Saturday evenings match between Chelsea and Man City saw several different interesting tactical battles. Unusually both sides decided to play without a recognised forward. Chelsea used Eden Hazard as their striker in this match instead of occupying the left-hand side of the attacking three as he would normally do.
Sarri thought that they would have the opportunity to play on the counter-attack which hasn’t been an option so far this season. The use of Hazard in the striker positioned was designed to provide Chelsea with a more mobile and ‘fast’ attack.
Man City’s attacking structure
During the game, Man City adopted their usual structure in the attacking phase which can be described as the W-W.
The advanced positioning of Manchester City leaves plenty of space behind the defence which can be exploited. This, however, is reliant on being able to build up effectively from the back instead of playing long balls up to an isolated striker. With the back five providing support behind the ball Chelsea aimed to counter-attack at speed exploiting the advanced positioning of the front five.
Chelsea sat back in a mid-block and looked to protect the dangerous central areas. Especially in the first half, they were pushed back into deep areas which made it difficult for them to build their attacks. Due to Chelsea’s compact defensive structure, Man City often played passes into wide areas which made it more difficult to transition into attack when possession was regained. The further Chelsea were pushed back the more Hazard became isolated and the lower the quality of passes that were played into him.
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