View: How Everton can break down Chelsea’s defensive brick wall
If Carlo Ancelotti wants to see Everton get anything against his former club Chelsea this weekend then he will have to figure out a way to break down Frank Lampard’s impressive defence.
Chelsea have conceded just 11 goals in 11 Premier League games this season, giving them the second-best defensive record in the top-flight.
According to stats by WyScout, the London club also has the lowest xGA (expected goals against) at 10.02.
One of the reasons why Chelsea have done so well defensively this season is that they are not easy to win the ball off. If you have the ball the opposition cannot score.
Only three teams have had more possession in all league games this season than Lampard’s side [57.1%].
As for Chelsea’s defensive stats, only Leicester [62.6%] have won a greater percentage of defensive duels this season than the Londoners [61.4%] and no team has won more aerial duels on average [56.5%].
Reece James, Tiago Silva, Kurt Zouma and Ben Chilwell have formed quite the formidable back-four for Chelsea and if Everton are to win this weekend, they need to work out how to
One string in Everton’s bow is striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who currently leads the race for the Premier League golden boot with 11 goals in as many matches.
As per the WyScout website, Calvert-Lewin [7.82] ranks fourth for xG in Europe’s top five leagues while only Montpellier’s Andy Delort [5] has scored more goals with his head than the Everton striker [4].
While it’s handy that Everton have one of the best-performing strikers in their side ahead of playing against Chelsea’s brick-wall of a defence, creating opportunities for him to score is the biggest part of the problem.
Luckily, it has been proven that this Chelsea defence can be exposed this season.
Edouard Mendy has conceded just two goals since his arrival at Stamford Bridge and both of those goals came after quick phases of play from Leeds United and Sheffield United.
On Sunday, Patrick Bamford scored for Leeds at Stamford Bridge just 10 seconds after the ball was at the other end of the pitch by the Yorkshire club’s penalty area.
One pass was latched onto by Kalvin Phillips on the halfway line and the England midfielder proceeded to play a ball in behind the Chelsea defence for Bamford to run onto, touch past Mendy and then score.
Against the Blades, Chris Wilder’s side had a corner and passed the ball around quickly on the edge of the Chelsea area before eventually finding the back of the net through David McGoldrick’s clever backheel.
https://youtu.be/uyp75pH_mzU?t=98
It takes a touch of brilliance to score against this defence but it also seems obvious that if you move the ball quickly, the players can be dragged out of position and drawn towards attackers and the ball itself.
It’s easier said than done, of course.
But Anclelotti has top players at his disposal who are more than capable of devising ways to break through this Chelsea defence and hand Calvert-Lewin the chances to score.
In other Everton news, Kevin Campbell has predicted the score for Everton’s clash against Chelsea.