King Kai on maximum power to boost Chelsea's hopes
Chelsea head to Elland Road to face Leeds United at lunchtime on Saturday in bullish mood. The London club are currently on a run of a dozen games without defeat in all competitions and a defence that has really tightened up during that spell. Their hosts have had a mixed time of late, and are perhaps one of three teams who already have little to play for in the Premier League, even with 10 matches left for most sides. For the visitors, Kai Havertz has been more effective of late, and ought to continue in the same vein to increase Thomas Tuchel's grip on the final Champions League spot. Read our preview here:
Mister Jack
One of the patterns to Leeds' games recently has been to start brightly without asserting themselves on the scoresheet, and then falling to defeat in the end. The list of absentees Marcelo Bielsa has had to contend with hasn't been long, but one of the key players that had been missing up until now was Jack Harrison. The hard-working winger has been a big part of ensuring his high pressing 4-4-1-1 formation works as intended, and his return will be a boost in that regard. The 24 year old has managed four goals and six assists in Leeds' first season back in the top flight for a decade, and doubtlessly, target man Patrick Bamford will be a grateful recipient of his accurate crossing, both high and low.
In Rüd health
A number of Chelsea's squad players have come in from the relative cold under Tuchel's administration. Pacey centre back Antonio Rüdiger is chief amongst them, and has been an important cog in cutting out many of the silly, needless mistakes that were previously threatening to make their season a complete write-off in the way rivals Arsenal's and Liverpool's have become (in the league, at least). Although naturally stronger on his right foot, he operates as the left-sided of the central trio, splitting off from the rest of the unit to cover the space horizontally behind the wing-backs. Additionally, his passing range makes progression up the pitch as quick as the situation requires it to be, and the movement of the attacking three, likely spearheaded by Havertz on Saturday, ensures that they find their mark more often than that, even when the source is from the defence.
Tuch it in
As already mentioned, Chelsea's season was going nowhere fast before Tuchel took the reins. Granted, they were (and are) still in the Champions League at the time of writing, but a lower top half finish was not what anyone associated with the club had been anticipating or demanding prior to 2020/2021 kicking off. Meanwhile, Leeds have done probably about what was expected of them, and in Bielsa, they have someone who'll be constantly looking for ways to improve over the remainder of this year and into next. However, they will probably be a poor second on Saturday, and Havertz to score anytime at odds of 3.00 with bet365 looks like a good bet.
