14:19
Changes for both teams
Graham Potter brought Mateo Kovacic to midfield while Hakim Ziyech dropped to the bench.
Benoît Badiaxile replaced Thiago Silva, who injured his knee against Tottenham, and will be out for six weeks, while Wesley Fofana has moved to right-back and Reece James is unavailable with a hamstring problem.
At Leeds, Max Wober returns to center back after missing out on an FA Cup defeat to Fulham, and Pascal Strake is healthy enough to take a bench seat after suffering a concussion.
14:05
Two teams and benches
Chelsea XICast: Arrizabalaga, Wesley Fofana, Koulibaly, Badiashiel, Chilwell, Loftus-Cheek, Fernandez, Joao Felix, Kovacic, Sterling, Havertz
Substitutes: Aubameyang, Bettinelli, Chalobah, Mudrik, Zakaria, Ziyech, Gallagher, Chukwuemeka, Madueke.
Leeds United XICast: Mellier, Ayling, Koch, Wober, Firpo, Adams, McKenny, Summerville, Aaronson, Harrison, Rutter
Subs: Roca, Gyabi, Struik, Robles, Christensen, Gnonto, Greenwood, Fernandez, Gray
11:57
Preview: Potter on the brink?
Good afternoon and welcome to the coverage of Chelsea’s match against Leeds United at Stamford Bridge where Leeds United have not won since Stephen Macphail scored twice in December 1999. a 3-0 victory over the hosts at Elland Road in August, a gem among the slags of their season under Jesse Marsh.
Chelsea, like any other pundit, is stuck in what optimists would call a transition period and pessimists would call a mess. They have a very capable manager, albeit one whose Brighton teams have struggled to take teams out of the game and score tons of goals, and a team put together seemingly without regard to the established game model. Anyone with money can sign very good prospects. It takes a little more to sign the right players for the team and its manager. It would be unfair to judge recruiting this early, but the time and patience of Bridge’s adherents is clearly not something Graham Potter will continue to enjoy unless he puts an immediate end to some highly uncertain form and record of five games without a win, which is to be frank, then even a spark.
We know what José Mourinho would have done after such a run. He went out unshaven, replacing the suit with a tracksuit and even boots, with a performative flamboyance to indicate that he had set to work. Potter is not one of them, and I think it is correct to say that he is judged by the standards of his predecessors, capable of ostentatious fury – not only Mourinho, but also Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel. To his credit, he doesn’t play these evasive games, but being a decent and honest man won’t help him if Chelsea lose tonight.
This past week, Leeds will be leaner, less frantic and should feel like their best path to something is to keep it on their toes for as long as possible and upset the crowd as well as their opponents. If they can make the Bridge irritable, they might learn something… if they can score a goal, an art that has become increasingly difficult for them in recent weeks.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
