Chelsea Host Leeds in a Midweek Clash | OneFootball

Liam Rosenior will be looking to make it eight wins from his first ten games in all competitions as manager as the two meet under the lights in a Tuesday midweek fixture.

A Bright Start

The Englishman has had a near perfect start, only losing home and away to Arsenal in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup. His standout victory to date was the 3-2 Champions League win against Napoli in Italy, and he has impressively won all four of his Premier League games so far.

The Blues are fifth in the league and only one point behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who play at West Ham later the same evening. Rosenior’s side are off the back of a confidence-boosting 3-1 win over Wolves in which Cole Palmer scored a first half hat-trick.

Rosenior could have hardly dreamt of a better start to life in London, and Leeds present a good opportunity to continue the winning momentum.

Defying the Pundits

Daniel Farke’s side have one win in their last three games, and lost 4-0 to Arsenal just over a week ago. Tipped for immediate relegation, Leeds are still having a relatively good season though, and are 16th in the league, currently six points ahead of 18th-placed West Ham.

Leeds beat Chelsea 3-1 when the two teams met in December, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin was on the scoresheet that day.

The Englishman has been in brilliant form this season after a late start. Eight of his ten goals have come since the start of December, and with his red-hot form has put himself right in the conversation for a place in England’s World Cup squad this summer.

Following Leeds’ win in the first fixture between these two sides, they now have the opportunity to complete a league double over Chelsea for the first time since the 1991/92 season. They won the league that year.

Reece James Concerns

Chelsea fans will be anxious to see whether captain Reece James is fit to start the game. James missed the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final and the league win over Wolves with a knock. Although he has recovered from that, now he is suffering from illness.

Given the 26-year-old’s terrible injury history, it is always a nervy time for Blues fans when they see him missing from a squad.

Rosenior has assured there is no conspiracy or hidden injury, and it is just an illness: “Reece is fit. There is a small issue, he’s feeling unwell. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s the truth. Staff have been down (with this bug), my coaching staff, staff around the club.

“Fortunately, only Reece from the playing squad is affected at the moment. It’s something that we just keep trying to work on. It’s the same for everyone at the moment. Hopefully he’ll be feeling well enough to be involved in the game.”

Chelsea will expect to pick up the three points at home, and after this game they can look forward to an FA Cup fourth round clash against Championship side Hull City on Friday.