Chelsea v Leeds United: Key battle, Blues key man and YEP prediction as Whites head for Stamford Bridge

Date: Saturday

Time: 3pm

Venue: Stamford Bridge

Odds (best available): Chelsea win – 3-10, Draw – 5-1, Leeds win – 12-1

Last time the teams met at Stamford Bridge: Saturday, December 5, 2020 - Premier League: Chelsea 3 (Giroud 27, Zouma 61, Pulisic 90), Leeds United 1 (Bamford 4).

Key battle: Mason Mount v Adam Forshaw

The Blues and Whites both have key players out in midfield, notably Jorginho a doubt for the Blues, and with Kalvin Phillips sidelined for Leeds, Adam Forshaw will be even more important to Marcelo Bielsa's side in the middle of the park. Containing the Blues in that area will be key and particularly when it comes to dealing with Chelsea's England international Mason Mount who was nominated for this year's Ballon D'or no less, finishing 19th in the rankings behind Lionel Messi. Best as a no 10 or 8, Mount already has five goals and four assists to his name so far this Premier League season.

Chelsea key man: Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea shelled out £97.5m to sign powerhouse striker Lukaku from Inter Milan during the summer and the Belgian international is clearly a class act and one of the best strikers in the game. The 28-year-old twisted his ankle in October's Champions League victory at home to Malmo and was sidelined for the next month but returned to the starting line up in Wednesday's Champions League clash at Zenit St Petersburg and netted 62 minutes into his return, the game ending in a 3-3 draw as Timo Werner also bagged a brace. Werner and Germany team mate Kai Havertz are other key threats but, when fully fit, Lukaku is Chelsea's main man up tops, the Belgian 12th in the 2021 Ballon D'or charts.

YEP prediction

This is about as hard as it gets with Thomas Tuchel's Blues involved in what is likely to be an epic three-way tussle for the title with Manchester City and Liverpool, all of whom Leeds face over the next 16 days. That said, the third-placed Blues have conceded six goals in their last two games, last weekend's 3-2 defeat at West Ham followed by Wednesday night's 3-3 draw at Zenit, a game for which Tuchel made eight changes for. The likes of Raphinha might well get Leeds on the scoresheet at Stamford Bridge but keeping Chelsea out at the other end is likely to be a very difficult task and it speaks volumes that injury-hit Leeds are 12-1 to take all three points. A massively tall order, but never say never. The head says 2-1 Chelsea, heart says a 1-1 draw.

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/yorkshire-evening-post-launch-leeds-united-only-digital-subscription-ahead-premier-league-campaign-2967964

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Thank you Laura Collins