After suffering a loss to Tottenham last week, it might be that the last thing Chelsea boss Graham Potter needs is another clash with a rival who fans will expect to be comfortably defeated. That is exactly what this weekend brings, however, as Leeds United arrive at Stamford Bridge looking to do the double over the Blues for the first time since they won the league in 1992.
A 3-0 win over Chelsea in August was a vision of what Leeds could have been under Jesse Marsch, but one that all too infrequently became reality, resulting in the American departing last month to be replaced by Javi Gracia. He won his first game in charge against Southampton last weekend before defeat to Fulham in the FA Cup. With the threat of relegation looming over the Yorkshire club that may ultimately be no bad thing with Saturday's game the start of a 14 game dash towards safety. Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know.
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Viewing information
- Date: Saturday, March 4 | Time: 10 a.m. ET
- Location: Stamford Bridge -- London
- TV: USA | Live stream: fuboTV (free trial)
- Odds: Chelsea -163; Draw +290; Leeds +450 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Storylines
Chelsea: For now the club hierarchy may be standing by Potter, but it is invariably the case that big clubs indicate their fulsome backing for their manager until the very moment that the ax falls. Part owner Todd Boehly invested a great deal of personal capital in the former Brighton boss, replacing the popular Thomas Tuchel swiftly in September to bring in Potter, but there will inevitably come a moment where he calculates that he loses more standing with supporters, co-owners and players by keeping him than he does sacking him.
These have been challenging times for Potter. Even the easing of his side's injury crisis is a double edged sword, more players to choose from but more to infuriate by not even naming them in the matchday squads. One of those who has struggled for regular opportunities is summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly, but the veteran center back gave Potter his backing, telling The Sun: "Graham Potter is very good at communicating with everyone. And he doesn't care if you cost £100million or £20m, he will treat you in the same way. That's the mark of a great manager."
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Leeds United: There may have been a different manager in the Leeds' dugout but the 2-0 loss to Fulham in the FA Cup bore a fair few of the hallmarks of the Marsch tenure as the Whites created plenty of chances without finding the back of the net, a familiar story for their supporters. Since the start of last season only Southampton, Brighton and Everton have underperformed their expected goals (xG) by more than Leeds, who have scored 71 goals off 83.4 xG. In that period no team has seen their opponents outperform their xG by a margin greater than Leeds' 12.8.
"I think it was just one of those games," USMNT captain Tyler Adams told BBC Radio Leeds after the Fulham defeat, "where, if you look at the chances that were created, they are not low quality chances, I would probably say that some were high-quality chances. We are not just getting that deflection or a little bit of luck or precision that you need in these situations to finish our opportunities. I think that was probably the most disappointing thing about the game.
"We are brave. We are trying to do things that the manager is telling us at certain points of the game we are executing the right things. We are getting into positions to finally go ahead or do what we need to, but we fail to take an opportunity." In that regard they may see some similarities between themselves and Chelsea, the league's lowest scorers since the World Cup.
Prediction
Everything we know about xG tells us that when teams underperform for an extended period they are likely to eventually progress towards the mean. Why not on Saturday? PICK: Chelsea 2, Leeds 2
