Overview
The chaotic days seem to have receded away from Chelsea. The blue team has revived strongly since Liam Rosenior was appointed, after a period of not winning in the previous 5 matches in the Premier League (3 draws, 2 losses).
The English coach successfully overcame a series of challenging London derbies, successively defeating Brentford 2-0, Crystal Palace 3-1 and West Ham United 3-2, before Cole Palmer's historic hat-trick in the first half became the key to helping them win 3-1 against Wolves at Molineux.
This result is a perfect response after Chelsea stopped in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, losing 2-4 to Arsenal. In all competitions, two home-away defeats against city rivals are also rare stains in the 41-year-old strategist's first 9 matches.
Currently ranked fifth in the Premier League table, The Blues are only 1 point behind the top 4 and 4 points ahead of Liverpool (currently ranked sixth). The upcoming victory will not only help Chelsea consolidate their position in the race for a UEFA Champions League spot, but could also make Rosenior the first Chelsea coach since Maurizio Sarri (September 2018) to win all 3 of his first home matches in the league.
However, The Blues need to break the midweek jinx, as they have not won in 3 midweek matches in the Premier League this season (2 draws, 1 loss), including a 1-3 defeat at Elland Road in December.
With the goal of completing a double against their opponent in the league for the first time since the 1991-1992 championship season, Leeds United traveled to London with excitement after a 3-1 home victory over Nottingham Forest last week.
Leeds soon took a 3-goal lead thanks to goals from Jayden Bogle, Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, making Lorenzo Lucca's late equalizer only meaningful consolation when Daniel Farke's team returned to the winning streak.
Previously, Leeds had just suffered a heavy defeat against league leaders Arsenal, but that was only 1 of their 2 defeats in the last 12 rounds of the Premier League (4 wins, 6 draws). This is a clear improvement compared to the period of losing 8/13 matches at the beginning of the season (3 wins, 2 draws).
Thanks to that series of improvements, Farke has brought the team to 16th place, 6 points ahead of the relegation group when the season is still 13 matches away. Leeds is therefore aiming to widen the safe gap with a positive result coming soon.
However, poor away record shows that The Whites may face many difficulties. They have lost 7/12 of their most recent away matches in the Premier League. Only the bottom two teams, Burnley (5 points) and Wolves (3 points), earned fewer away points than Leeds' 7 points.
The away trips to Stamford Bridge also did not bring beautiful memories. Leeds has not won in the last 7 away games here in the league, losing all 6 recent matches. The last time they triumphed at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League was in 1999.
Personnel situation
Chelsea are expected to continue to be without Jamie Gittens and Tosin Adarabioyo, as both are still injured from hamstring injuries. Meanwhile, Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia are still in the process of recovering from thigh injuries.
Levi Colwill cannot return because he is recovering from a serious knee injury. Filip Jorgensen's fitness is also uncertain, although the Danish goalkeeper is likely still unlikely to take Robert Sanchez's starting spot.
Andrey Santos had to leave the field at the end of the match against Wolves due to a minor injury, leaving his ability to play uncertain. However, Rosenior said Reece James may return after missing the last 2 matches.
On Leeds United's side, Dominic Calvert-Lewin will continue to lead the attack. He is one of 3 players - along with Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka - who have scored both home and away goals against Chelsea in a season since Mark Viduka in 2001.
Expected lineup:
Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Estevao, Palmer, Neto, J. Pedro.
Leeds United: Darlow, Rodon, Struijk, Justin, Bogle, Aaronson, Ampadu, Gruev, Gudmundsson, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor.
The match between Chelsea and Leeds United takes place at 2:30 am on February 11 (Vietnam time).
