Chelsea return to action on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Sheffield United to Stamford Bridge.
This will be United’s first trip to Stamford Bridge for a Premier League match since their being relegated in the 2006-2007 season.
But Saturday could be a test for Chelsea as a small injury crisis has broken out. With Pedro limping off with a hamstring injury in the warmup against Norwich and N’Golo Kante still nursing an injury, Chelsea’s options in midfield and attack are looking a bit thing.
The good news for Chelsea on the injury front is that Mason Mount should be fit to start on Saturday after leaving early against Norwich with a knock to the foot.
That’s particularly important for Chelsea since Mount might well be the stand-out performer in the first three weeks in the season. With two goals in his last two games, Mount has shown some of the goalscoring form that he displayed under Frank Lampard at Derby last season.
For Sheffield United, it will be interesting to see what approach manager Chris Wilder takes on Saturday. The Blades are generally known for playing an interesting three-man defence with a lot of freedom to create and attack.
United should be given a bit of confidence from watching Norwich’s performance against Chelsea, since Norwich took an attacking approach and were able to put pressure on Chelsea and score some goals.
But this match is at Stamford Bridge, and after getting his first win as Chelsea manager, Lampard will be hoping to get his first win as Chelsea manager at Stamford Bridge.
The positive for Chelsea is that United’s approach won’t be anything new. Having managed against Wilder last season in the Championship, Lampard should have some idea of how Wilder might approach the game.
But Chelsea have yet to keep a clean sheet this season, and there should be some concern about the defensive solidity.
At home, though, Chelsea should have enough quality to choose from in the squad to beat Sheffield United. The real question might be how comfortable or nail-biting might the match be.
