Aston Villa vs Chelsea: Tactical Analysis & Match Report (2-1)

Chelsea’s Build-Up Play and Press Resistance

When building from the back, the visitors used a 5-2-4 shape, similar to Villa, while the hosts adopted a different high press strategy. Villa’s Watkins would curve his run to press Chelsea’s right centre-back, then move to press the goalkeeper if the ball was played back. Asensio, playing in a central attacking role, was ready to press Chelsea’s left centre-back as soon as he was found with the ball.

Further back, Villa’s right-winger and central midfielders man-marked Chelsea’s left-back and two defensive midfielders. On the opposite side, Ramsey positioned himself between Chelsea’s right centre-back and right-back to press the centre-back, only when he was found with the ball.

Chelsea found it difficult to play with short passes due to Villa’s high press. Villa did well to force long balls and cause turnovers, given the physical advantage they held against Chelsea’s forwards.

During non-goal-kick deep build-ups, Chelsea appeared more comfortable. They split their right centre-back, making it harder for Watkins to press as he had to cover a larger distance. Additionally, Villa’s left-winger, Ramsey, would drop deeper, thus creating more space for Chelsea to play through. Chelsea utilized a 4-2-5 shape in these situations, allowing them to progress the ball with short passes.

Once they bypassed Villa’s frontline press, Chelsea could easily slice through the midfield, creating overloads due to their half-space players (Fernández and Palmer), defensive midfielder Moisés Caicedo, and striker Vitor Neto, who dropped deeper to link play.