Andre Villas-Boas will be desperate for all three points in his first home game as Chelsea take on West Brom. Having taken a point at the Britannia in a bruising encounter with Stoke, the new Blues boss will be keen to record a victory, with both Manchester clubs already two points ahead after one round of matches.
Roy Hodgson’s side arrive at Stamford Bridge on the back of a 2-1 home loss to Manchester United and have an ominous task on their hands in what is undoubtedly the trickiest trip for any side in England’s top-flight this weekend.
Likely Line-Ups
Fernando Torres grabbed the role as the lone front man in Chelsea’s 4-3-3 at Stoke and looks set to continue at the expense of Didier Drogba. Jose Bosingwa seems favourite to keep the right-back berth and Alex should partner John Terry in central defence with David Luiz still injured. Daniel Sturridge, superb in pre-season, serves the second game of a three-match ban.
The Baggies are still sweating over the fitness of star striker Peter Odemwingie. If the Nigerian fails to make the game, Somen Tchoyi will continue alongside new boy Shane Long, with Long coming into the game having found the net against Man United, albeit somewhat fortuitously. Hodgson may also choose to start Gonzalo Jara over Steven Reid at right-back, with the latter’s own goal handing victory to Sir Alex Ferguson’s side on Sunday afternoon.
Chelsea Width From Deep
Its already clear Villas-Boas likes his full-backs to attack as much as possible. A look at the side’s average position map from the Stoke game shows just how far forward both Ashley Cole (3) and Jose Bosingwa (17) were stationed when in possession. The pair had 82 touches apiece, more than any Chelsea player, aside from John Obi Mikel (12), who had 87 touches.
The pair were third and fourth for passes, Cole managing 52 to Bosingwa’s 47, with an 83% and 81% respective accuracy. Bosingwa was far more impressive down the right when it came to successful dribbles (he made 3 to Cole’s 1) and delivery- he managed 5 crosses from the flank compared to Cole’s 2. With Cole and Bosingwa so far forward and receiving so much of the ball, it allowed Florent Malouda (15) and Salomon Kalou (21) to stay high and wide, with Malouda in particularly high up the pitch.
The Midfield Enforcers
Both sides’ defensive midfielders had impressive opening games. Youssuf Mulumbu sat deep against United, shielding the back-four and allowing central midfield partner Paul Scharner forage forward and manage 3 shots, the most of any West Brom player on Sunday. He made 5 tackles and 4 interceptions against the champions, and made 44 passes -joint-top for passes for the Baggies with a 95% accuracy indicating his caution in possession, as he picked up 7.26 in WhoScored.com’s ratings.
John Obi Mikel’s job is to win the ball and rotate it quickly to the side’s more attacking types. Playing behind Ramires and Frank Lampard in the 4-3-3, he had more touches (87) and made more passes than any Chelsea player (58) at the Britannia. He made 3 tackles and a brilliant 6 interceptions, breaking up the Stoke attacks time and again and with an 88% pass accuracy, picked up a WhoScored.com match rating of 7.26.
Key Battle
Further analysis of the stats from Sunday’s game suggests that the key battle will be down the Chelsea left flank. A look at the West Brom’s average position map is indicative of this- Chris Brunt (11), a left-footer playing on the right, tends to gravitate towards the centre of the pitch when on the ball- this allowed Man United to use the width of the left flank and it’s no surprise that 43% of United’s attacks came down that side of the pitch.
Steven Reid, the Baggies right-back was left exposed all too often and when the final whistle sounded, he had scored an own goal and Ashley Young, playing on the left wing for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, had picked up both assists in the 2-1 win.
Reid made just 1 tackle, 1 interception and 1 effective clearance, making him the least effective member of the Baggies back-four, though he did make 2 key passes going forward. His starting slot may be up for question but even if Jara replaces him, the issue of Brunt’s narrow positioning still applies.
This bodes well Florent Malouda, in particular; the Frenchman will be afforded plenty of room to manoeuvre by Brunt’s wanderings and should revel in the space vacated. Most of Chelsea’s play at Stoke came down the left (38%) - Malouda’s distribution saw him make 2 key passes and 5 crosses in addition to 1 successful dribble and 2 shots. If he can be isolated one-on-one with Reid, Villas-Boas can anticipate an adventurous Saturday evening.
