This is the last of a four-part preview on what to look at teams in the remaining fixtures from a tactical perspective. The Premier League has returned on 17 June! We have missed English football for quite a while since the COVID-19, most teams would have a full squad because of this long break.
This tactical analysis is mainly giving a brief analysis of the team style of plays. By looking at their strengths and weaknesses, we provide you with some hints on what to focus on in the remaining fixtures.
In this last analysis of the series, we investigate the tactics of Chelsea, Burnley, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
Chelsea
Expected points: 55.4 (3rd)
Points: 48 (4th)
Chelsea might be one of the most underrated teams in the Premier League this season, probably no one would expect Frank Lampard’s adaptability to injuries and changing some of his tactics in different contexts. Although the Blues still mainly playing as a 4-3-3, sometimes they played in a back three (e.g. 3-4-2-1) to improve the solidity at the backline.
The expected points and reality have a 7.4 points margin, thus, a part of it was due to their defensive issues – conceded 39 goals, 10.5 more than they should have. Chelsea stood third in average ball possession – 59.2% was behind City and Liverpool. They were also the third in several passing metrics such as passes to the final third, deep completions and progressive passes.
In the first phase of an attack, Chelsea backline spread wide to circulate the ball, with the full-backs providing the width. Also, allowing Jorginho dropping between at the defence if needed.
However, playing out from the back was not the strongest tool for Chelsea. Given only Jorginho playing as the pivot, he could be man-marked and mostly the full-backs were the route to escape. We have their average positions and passing map here, Chelsea centre-backs were having strong linkages with the full-backs and the pivot, but not the advanced midfielders.
Chelsea have a pair of full-backs with an offensive mindset. Reece James, who became a regular starter in the new calendar year was an expert in crossing. The crosses he whipped were quick and with spin, difficult for the defenders to anticipate. James attempted 5.03 crosses per 90 minutes – fifth in the league, completed 29.23%, which was close to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 29.44%.
If Willian and Callum Hudson-Odoi were playing as the right-winger, they could rotate the positions with James constantly, looking for free spaces. In addition, James was also good at crossing deep, so deploying him at the half-spaces was also very fine.
On the l
