Chelsea didn’t keep up with opponents at all, without Palmer the attack is nil

Chelsea London went to the ground of rival Arsenal. However, the game was tied for only 4 minutes until Leandro Trossard scored. From then on, there was practically only one team on the pitch and Chelsea did not keep up with their opponent’s pace at all. Moreover, they created almost nothing towards the front.

Arsenal’s midfield dominated

Already the first goal action indicated something. Arsenal’s central midfielders exchanged the ball several times in the middle and Declan Rice advanced from the middle of the pitch to the big whitewash all alone, unchallenged. The finishing Trossard also had plenty of space to finish. We can argue that Petrovic should have caught the shot, but he didn’t.

Arsenal’s back line played a great game. The deployment of Thomas Partey opened a drop more offensive doors for Rice, therefore the English midfielder could think more about attacking. Moreover, while defending, thanks to the defensive-minded duo, Arsenal was in control of the match as well.

Martin Odegaard’s offensive influence doesn’t need to be mentioned. The Norwegian midfielder notched up 2 assists in the match and created chance after chance for his teammates. The only question was how many assists he would get in the game. Kai Havertz was also a frequent presence in the midfield and was almost infallible in combination.

Chelsea’s back line, on the other hand, did not catch the match at all. The trio of Enzo Fernandez, Moises Cancelo and Connot Gallagher seemed to be absent from the pitch. Caicedo tried to cover a lot of ground, but Arsenal’s combinations were so quick and accurate that the Ecuadorian was nowhere to be found.

Neither Enzo nor Gallagher put anything extra into the game and it showed in the performance of the whole team. Add to that the cheap turnovers already in transition and it’s no wonder the result is what it is. Arsenal dominated the middle of the pitch and thus won the game.

Chelsea’s attack is nil without Palmer

In the entire match, Chelsea sent a single shot at David Raya. The absence of Cole Palmer was very noticeable in the attacking phase. The Englishman can finish coolly, but he can also create chances for his teammates, which the whole team failed to do in the match.

Nicolas Jackson did make one move on Raya from the side, but only hit the side netting. In the stats, Chelsea’s xG hangs at 1.66, but the goal tally remained at zero. Although The Blues showed some hints of chances, they then casually blew them and the quality in the final stages was disastrous.

Before the game, Mauricio Pochettino spoke about the players having the opportunity to show that they were playing for Chelsea not Cole Palmer’s football team. However, the match itself showed that without the aforementioned player, the offensive part of the game is completely devoid of ideas and moreover, no one has the finishing quality of the English player.

Source: Premier League