5 things that will concern Chelsea after the goalless draw against Leicester City

A 10-man Leicester City side held Chelsea to a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge last night, as Chelsea failed to leapfrog Manchester United and are now tied with second-placed Manchester United on points. Leicester had a very bright first half and could have come away with all three points, if not for the red card shown to Ben Chilwell.

Things are not looking great for Chelsea, and they really need to address some points soon. Further, major transfer market decisions must also be taken.

If Chelsea want to get the season back on track, here are 5 things that Chelsea desperately need to address:

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#5 Gary Cahill's injury

Gary Cahill was taken off in the 33rd minute

The first blow to Chelsea came when Cahill seemed to have pulled his hamstring during a challenge on Jamie Vardy. He was withdrawn in the 33rd minute and was replaced with Andreas Christensen.

The injury to the captain is certain to have an impact on an already thin squad and with David Luiz out of favour, Conte could look to recall one of his defenders currently out on loan, or sign a new one.

While there have been no recent problems in terms of the defence - the clean sheets are still coming - it will surely be difficult to continue with a three-at-the-back formation with Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta until Cahill is back.

#4 Eden Hazard's no-show

Eden Hazard is in a poor run of form

It was another disappointing afternoon for the Chelsea forward as he failed to have an impact on the proceedings of the game. It was the 10th time he was taken off this season, having been replaced with Pedro at the 57th minute mark.

The Belgian is deeply out of form by his standards – a return of 1 goal and 1 assist in the last 7 starts. Is it the case that the transfer window is distracting him? Does he really want to play for Zidane?

He should be wary of the fact that Madrid are struggling too, and Zidane might not be their coach at the beginning of the season after all.

Considering that Eden Hazard is one of Chelsea's best players, the Blues will really be hoping for things to change soon.

#3 Chelsea are winless in 2018

The 0-0's are racking up at a rapid speed

Chelsea failed to win for the fourth match in a row in all competitions, as they remain winless in 2018. They also went on to clinch an unwanted record - for the first time in their history, Chelsea have drawn three consecutive games 0-0, with the previous draws happening against Norwich (FA Cup) and Arsenal (Carabao Cup).

They also failed to score at home for the fourth time this season – there were no such instances during last season. Their home form has seriously affected Chelsea’s Premier League defence this year, and is now impacting their challenge for a top-4 finish.

The draw against Leicester City prevented Chelsea from climbing higher up the Premier League table, and to make things worse, if Liverpool trump Manchester City, Chelsea could very well find themselves dropping to 4th place on the table.

#2 Failure to capitalize against 10 men

Ben Chilwell was shown red for a second challenge

Two yellow cards in the span of five minutes for Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell made the Foxes lose their attacking sting, and subsequently gave Chelsea the opportunity to capitalize and run away with all three valuable three points.

But, lack of intent and a shortage of ideas prevented that as Chelsea could only create a few chances, which Schmeichel saved comfortably to keep his 2nd Premier League clean sheet of 2018.

While Chelsea would have been expected to slot in a couple of goals in the back of the net in that period, and their failure to do so has given Chelsea an unwanted selection headache across all areas of the pitch.

#1 Lack of a clinical striker

Michy Batshuayi would be expected to lead the line against Norwich

Diego Costa is gone, and even if the Blues' administration refuses to admit it, he is being missed. Chelsea now miss that well-needed aggression, and summer signing Alvaro Morata has been woefully inconsistent, and hasn't yet set the league on fire.

While his first season so far hasn't been poor by any standards, it just has not been enough for a team that happens to be defending the league title.

The Blues now have another home game as they next face Norwich in the replay of their 3rd round match of the FA Cup, at Stamford Bridge. It will be interesting to see the changes that Conte rings in for the upcoming match as he's bound to be dissatisfied with last night's performance.

Michy Batshuayi will see this as a big opportunity, and he could be expected to start and try and mount a challenge for a regular spot in Chelsea's starting 11.