Chelsea are back! After a run of poor performances, Chelsea players looked better than ever in their comfortable 3-0 win at home against Leicester City. The Blues were ruthless today and showed why they are the 2nd favorites for the Premier League title this season.
We take a look at the talking points from the match:
#1 - The formation dilemma is over
One of the biggest headache's for Antonio Conte at Chelsea was to find an ideal formation to fit in the players he had. 3-5-2 was not ideal as Diego Costa was the only striker with proper experience and that is very well known to everyone to be Conte's favorite formation.
Conte opted for a 3-4-3 today and it worked wonders. All the players seem to have absolutely loved to play in their respective positions and they all jelled so well! Eden hazard came out earlier this week asking Conte to play him as a #10 but with a 3-4-3 formation, it was difficult for Conte to give him that spot so instead, he made him play as a RAM with Pedro joining him as a LAM. Diego Costa is also enjoying his freedom up front.
David Luiz and Gary Cahill also seem to be having a great time playing together now. The duo had a horror start together but have finally settled in and seem to be preferring this new formation.
#2 - Ranieri's focus shift isn't good
This might be Leicester City's only chance to impress in the Champions League but that should not be affecting their performances in the Premier League. Everyone at the club seems more interested in the Champions League now, including Ranieri.
The players are performing well in the European competition but are not able to replicate the same in the league at all. The manager's magic seems to have faded out or it's just that everyone's found out how they play and found a way to counter it.
Champions League is a very luxurious competition and Leicester City will not be able to get into it anytime soon again. That has made them shift their focus solely on that competition and try to get their magical run in the Champions League, just like their run in the Premier League last season.
#3 - Chelsea's youth show their class
Despite having several first team players out of the squad today, Chelsea cruised to a victory. Every single player was in top form today but the 3 young stars who came on in the 2nd half stole the show from the others!
Nathaniel Chalobah came on to replace Pedro in the second half and showed why he's one of the most talked about Chelsea youngsters of the recent times. His passing, vision and movement was just top class! To make his performance stand out even more, he produced a stunning backheel assist to set up Victor Moses for the 3rd goal.
Loftus-Cheek and Ola Aina came on late in the 2nd half and they too showed took the opportunity with both hands. Both the played hardly got 10 minutes to play but those few minutes itself were enough to give the spectators a glimpse of their immense talent. Matic and Ivanovic will have sleepless nights if these youngsters keep performing so well.
#4 - Leicester City are missing someone badly!
N'Golo Kante was pivotal in Leicester City's title-winning campaign last season and that is becoming even clearer this season. Their midfield is having so many loop-holes and the opposition is able to identify them with ease.
Drinkwater is not able to handle the entire midfield on his own and the others are not able to help him. Amartey is good but just not good enough to replace Kante in the Leicester City squad. The Ghanian is still young and has a lot to learn and this is affecting a Leicester City a lot this season.
Why Leicester City did not try to sign a more experienced central midfielder is going to remain as a question in every Leicester City fan's mind but who would try to question the manager who did the impossible last season? If they don't get things sorted in the midfield, they are bound to have a tough time in the league this season.
#5 - Goodbye Ivanovic and Fabregas?
Chelsea fans have finally got what they wanted! Branislav Ivanovic has been dropped and the defense looks a lot better already! The Serbian was not even in the squad today and it's reported that he's out injured and not dropped completely by Antonio Conte.
The injury has indeed come as a blessing in disguise - at least for Ola Aina who got the opportunity to play a few minutes towards the end of the game. Cesar Azpilicueta would also be very happy that he's getting to play as a right-back after over 2 years of being forced to play as a left-back. With Azpilicueta doing well in this position and Ola Aina also impressing, Ivanovic might just be heading to the end of his Chelsea career.
Another Chelsea star who's going to suffer is Cesc Fabregas. Matic and Oscar are preferred over him by Antonio Conte and with the midfield doing well without him, the Spaniard might just be spending a lot more time on the bench in the coming weeks. Oscar too was not involved today and he too might be joining Fabregas and Mikel on the bench.
