After a strong display against West Ham on Monday Night Football, Chelsea continued their Premier League campaign, facing off against Watford. While the display wasn’t as clinical as the week before, the London side pulled away with a 2-1 win heading into a midweek fixture against Bristol Rovers.
Time to employ the two striker formation
If the game winning assist from Michy Batshuayi to Diego Costa last week was not enough, then this week’s display from both strikers surely must be. Coming off of the bench, Batshuayi opened the scoring for Chelsea in the eightieth minute, scoring a poachers goal from six-yards out. Costa won Chelsea the game (again), scoring his second goal in as many games in the eighty eighth minute to put Chelsea up 2-1. Conte, being used to utilizing this formation both at Juventus and Italy, now has two very capable options up front for a dual striker formation and with the way both have been playing together, it makes sense for them to be a full time pairing.
In 17 minutes off of the bench, Batshuayi was a very strong presence in front of goal, getting three shots off, one of which was a goal, while another hit the post. Costa totaled two shots over the course of the game, but together, the two looked very strong, feeding off of one another’s strengths en route of Chelsea’s second win of the season.
Also, how can you not like Batshuayi after this?
hope you kept it in your pants this time fam 😂😂😂
— Michy Batshuayi (@mbatshuayi) August 20, 2016
Give Fabregas a chance
In just 12 minutes, Cesc Fabregas proved to spectators why Chelsea is better off utilizing him in the midfield next to N’Golo Kante rather than Nemanja Matic. Coming off the bench, Fabregas was pivotal in the winning effort as he was able to contribute the game winning assist to Costa while also opening up the field of play with his passing ability. Outside of the assist to Costa, Fabregas put his overzealous 2015 behind him and contributed two key passes as well as one through ball. In his 12 minutes of action, Fabregas attempted 19 passes, completing 84.2% of them. Currently Kante represents the last line of the defense prior to the defense, but Matic is a similar, holding midfielder. Fabregas would be a creative presence that can strive under Kante’s box-to-box style. His talent is clearly still there, and Kante could get him back into the form that guided Jose Mourinho and Chelsea to a Premier League title two seasons ago.
Moses > Pedro
With Willian out with a slight calf injury, Antonio Conte opted to include Pedro in the side’s starting lineup. That decision, while lackadaisical on the offensive end, paid off defensively as Pedro managed to post four tackles and two interceptions, also managing to accomplish 86.8% of his 19 attempted passes. Moses, who spent last season on loan at West Ham, totaled 19 minutes of game time against Watford and managed to total one shot on goal, two key passes, while completing 80% of his ten passes. Moses, coming on in a winger role, was a good form of support for the Costa and Batshuayi front line that Conte employed in the latter parts of the second half. Moses, a player who has always looked to prove his role in South London, managed to make an impact that could really put him front line and center for Conte as the Italian manager now looks to make decisions ahead of games against Bristol Rovers and Burnley with Willian currently struggling with his injury and Chelsea not being in the market for a winger.
Defense needs reinforcements
While West Ham dominated for only the first twenty minutes last game (outside of the James Collins goal), Watford looked to be a whole different monster, constantly sustaining offense pressure against Chelsea. The goal scored by Etienne Capoue was evident of a very poor defensive effort that left Capoue open in the box. The duo of Gary Cahill and John Terry were forced into one tackle, four interceptions, six clearances and one block over the course of the game, and the defensive effort as a whole looked scrappy. Clearly reinforcements are needed, and Chelsea seem to be in hot pursuit of certain players such as Kalidou Koulibay and Jonas Hector.
Cuadrado looks to be on the way out
Having been left out of the side for the season opener against West Ham and then being left out of the team to face Watford, Chelsea winger Juan Cuadrado seems to be on the way out with Juventus reportedly in hot pursuit of the striker. Cuadrado has never really gotten the chance he needed to make an impact with Chelsea as he has never played a full season with the side. Over the course of last season, Cuadrado totaled five goals and five assists 21 starts for Juventus (15 substitute appearances), while completing 85.5% of his passes in those games. The move, which is set to be a season long loan back to Juventus, will likely have a buy option at the end of this season, which would likely spell the end of Cuadrado’s Chelsea career.
