Expectations were met, Chelsea whizzed past Malmo comfortably at home. A scoreline of 4-0 brought sheer joy to the fans but they also face 2 major injury concerns.
An utter dominating performance by the Blues at Stamford Bridge has put them in a comfortable spot; sitting 2nd in their UCL table. As for Malmo, the Swedish side is sitting bottom of the table, winless and hopeless.
However, a scintillating performance by Chelsea was followed by major injury issues. The team’s star striker, Romelu Lukaku, limped off the pitch in the first half followed by his forward pairing, Timo Werner.
Top form displayed by Chelsea yet again against Malmo
What seemed like a neutral start with both sides very good on the ball, the London giants soon started displaying their quality. The inevitable pressing of the Chelsea team started causing tension amongst Malmö players.
As the discipline left, the Malmö defence crumbled. Andreas Christensen opened the scoring and the Blues went on to score three more times from there onward.
Unlike their previous games, Chelsea remained on the attacking front throughout the game. The midfield duo, N’Golo Kante and Mason Mount, continued to dominate the midfield. In the end, the Blues had an overall possession of 74 percent and 20 shots with seven shots on target compared to the Allsvenskan team, having 26 percent possession and 2 shots with zero shots on target.
A change in tactical style by the Blue Lions
For the past few fixtures, Chelsea lacked an attacking intent. Thomas Tuchel never failed to field an impeccable defence, but the attack was often left isolated and waiting.
The Pensioners, who were called the “Giant Killers” last season; taking down the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City, have struggled to break through some of the Premier League and Champion’s League defences this season.
A total attacking style vs Malmö could be a morale booster for the players to be able to go up the pitch and wreak havoc.
Chelsea struck by injuries. Can affect outcome of further games
The Chelsea no.9, Romelu Lukaku, was brought down by a rash tackle by Malmö centre back, Lasse Nielsen. The challenge awarded a penalty kick to Chelsea but had the Belgian subbed off within 25 minutes of the game. It is feared that Lukaku has a sprained ankle and will miss the game on the weekend.
As for Timo Werner, he was also subbed off just before half time. The 25-years-old German was reported to have a hamstring issue.
“I don’t know too much more. Romelu twisted his ankle in the box and Timo has a hamstring injury. It will take a while for both of them. We need more examinations to be more precise but they will be out for some matches.” – said Tuchel, when asked about injury updates.
At the moment, the Blues sit on top of the Premier League table with 19 points and will face a rather easy fixture – Norwich, on Saturday.
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