A 14-game wining run coming into the tie today, Chelsea had the opportunity to make it 15-consecutive wins against the same Premier League opponent, which would have been a new record.
A 1-1 draw with goals from both teams either half however see’s us look at some visible improvements to be made ahead of the international break.
Cucurella remains a target
With Oliver Glasgner adopting a back-three system with flying wingbacks, Columbian fullback, Mũnoz was charged with wining the aerial duels against Spanish left back, Marc Cucurella.
Palace utilised long balls to the left channel of Chelsea’s defence as a key way to beat the Chelsea press and that tactic saw Cucurella win just 2 of his 5 aerial duels.
Cucurella’s height wasn’t his only weakness but his weak defending (2/4 ground duels won) when 1V1 against Mũnoz saw the Palace defender get time to deliver dangerous cut backs on a couple occasion with Sanchez having to be called into action.
Many teams continue to identify Marc Cucurella as a weak link in Chelsea’s defence and the earlier Maresca solves that, the better as the blues remain without a clean sheet this season in the premier league.
Jackson reminds Chelsea why Osimhen remains a must
Holding the ball up and driving the team up the pitch with his brilliant close control and strength to hold defenders off is all good but when faced with a goal keeper 1V1, very few can confidently place a bet on Jackson to score.
Despite scoring 2 goals already this season in the premier league, and today against Palace, Jackson still does not have the fear factor of a striker when in or around the box.
There is something about a strikers presence when in/around the opponents box that pulls defenders to himself and creates space for the rest of his teammates.
Sadly, Jackson lacks this. Poor aerial ability means Chelsea cannot make most of Pedro Neto’s crosses which should however be a huge weapon for the team.
Considering Chelsea’s persistent interest in Victor Osimhen, it is a matter of time before the blues bring in a worthy competitor or replacement for the Senegalese striker.
Attacking balance
It is common knowledge that to succeed as a football team, each department has to be balanced.
A team’s balance is more crucial than the array of disjointed stars.
Chelsea’s present attack seem like a disjointed bunch with underlapping skill-set (Nkunku, Felix, Palmer and Sancho).
This problem meant it was no surprise to see the team struggle after Maresca made substitutions to try to win the game.
Fielding a trio of Palmer, Felix, and Nkunku saw Nkunku shunned out wide to keep width on the right, a position that does not suit the Frenchman.
Aside that, Felix, Palmer and Nkunku’s tendency to show for the ball to feet saw Chelsea pose little threat to the Palace backline with only Mudryk causing problems at intervals with his directness and pace.
The team’s fluency in attack is probably going to be Maresca’s biggest test in order to get the team firing on all fronts.
Now to the international break as Chelsea are back in action in a fortnight against Bournemouth.
