It’s pretty rare to see a team outclass Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United but that’s what happened at Chelsea on Saturday. There’s no disgrace at all in losing to that Chelsea side. They’re packed with quality and Frank Lampard’s line-up cost a lot of money to put together but in just about every department, Leeds were second best.
Chelsea’s pace was a problem but they were also strong defensively, especially down the sides where Leeds like to attack. Leeds weren’t able to get the high press quite right and N’Golo Kante had a blinder against Kalvin Phillips, like Kante at his best.
The disappointment for Leeds is that they scored so early but didn’t create a platform with that early goal from Patrick Bamford. Chelsea got back into it quickly and then backed themselves to dominate. You could see which way the result was going in the second half. You have to be realistic and say that Leeds were up against title contenders at Stamford Bridge and there was a gulf on the night but put in perspective, games like that were always going to come around this season. It’s back-to-back home fixtures now, against West Ham and Newcastle. Leeds should be set on winning both.
