Here’s my fantasy premier league match analysis of Chelsea v WBA concentrating on line up issues plus player and match analysis

Chelsea 2 WBA 2

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta (Mikel 73), Ramires, Lampard (Ba 64), Willian, Oscar (Mata 73), Hazard, Eto’o.
Subs not used: Cole, Luiz, De Bruyne, Schwarzer.
Goals: Eto’o 45, Hazard (pen) 90.  Assists:  Hazard Ramires
Booked: Ivanovic, Lampard, Eto’o.

West Brom: Myhill, Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Yacob, Mulumbu, Amalfitano (Popov 89), Sessegnon (Morrison 81), Brunt, Long (Anichebe 79).
Subs not used: Luke Daniels, Vydra, Dawson, Berahino.
Goals: Long 60, Sessegnon 68.  Assists: McAuley, Ridgewell

Lineups:

Chelsea:

After me saying that I thought Cole was the most secure,  he was dropped “I didn’t like his performance against Newcastle,” was the explanation Mourinho gave.   Azpilicueta was installed as a wrong footed LB. however, with Bertrand injured its hard to make any snap judgments as to where the LB position will end up.   Cahill got the nod over Luiz for the CB position. Ramires and Lampard were the CDMs.  In midfield, somewhat surprisingly, Willian got the nod over Schurrle and the midfield 3 saw Oscar centrally flanked left by Hazard and right by Willian. With Torres injured Eto’o took the lone striker position.

WBA:

WBA were pretty much as expected with Reid taking Jones spot as RB. Yacob and Mulumbu were the 2 CDMs and the 3 attacking midfielders were Sessegnon flanked by Brunt left and Amafitano right.  Long led the line and Berahino was on the bench.

Match analysis

Chelsea started the match at a pedestrian pace and the first half Chelsea had an obsessions with feeding the ball to Ivanovic to cross.  It  was no surprise to see that he received the most passes in the opponents final third. Now is it just me but Drogba doesn’t play for Chelsea anymore does he?  The 3 midfielders aren’t exactly the tallest chaps in the world and WBA have 2 of the best aerial defenders in the league. So what was the point in feeding Ivanovic to continually cross for McAuley and Olsson to get heading practice.   WBA sat deep and narrow virtually asking Chelsea to continue with the tactic that was serving WBA so well. In contrast to Ivanovic, Azplicueta sat deep and didn’t really get forward at all. This could have been as insurance against Hazards “defending”. Even on the odd occasion that WBA had some possession and  Chelsea had the chance to break when a move broke down it was done at a lethargic pace. Chelsea’s best chances came when they managed to win possession off WBA high up the pitch. Hazard was probably Chelseas only threatening player cutting in from the left and his shot spilled by Myhill lead to the goal for Chelsea just before half time.

The 2nd half saw the tempo raised by Chelsea and they stopped the rather fruitless obsession with Ivanovic.  Having gone behind, WBA were forced into structured attacks and in contrast to Chelsea in the first half  played with a good tempo. The first goal came from a corner where Cech saved but parried and Long won the right to tap in with his head. The 2nd came from a fairly tame shot from Sessegnon which Cech failed to deal with. The last 10 minutes saw Chelsea lay siege to the WBA goal in the end equalised through an extremely soft penalty after Ramires was fouled (at least in the eyes of the ref). As Lampard had been subbed Hazard took the pen.

Player analysis

Defences

6 consecutive games now and fantasy premier league managers have yet to see a clean sheet from Chelsea and the 2nd consecutive game they’ve conceded 2 goals. Considering the average price and the rotation threat, that just isn’t really good enough. The stats weren’t good here to give any comfort. The next games though of West Ham A Southampton H Sunderland A and Stoke A and Crystal Palace H do have clean sheet potential. Chelsea conceded far too many chances. For WBA the stats were similar although probably loaded towards the last 10 minutes or so

Hazard

Chelseas best player and the most threatening cutting in from the left. A goal and an assist plus had the best shooting stats and created the most chances. More pen box touches than any other player and only Eto’o had a higher average position.  He’s also the designated penalty taker when Lampard is off the field which is worth noting.  4 goals and 2 assists from his last 5.

Oscar.

Disappointing game with little attacking production. 1 free kick which Myhill saved was all you could say he saw from the day. 3 consecutive games with no returns is a worrying sign

Eto’o

Another pick pocket type goal and overall had a good game with good shooting stats. Should get a run of a few games with Torres’ injury but then will settle back into the 1 position 3 players routine plus a sub appearance to make it even worse.  This just isn’t conducive to a good fantasy premier league team

Sessegnon

A rather fortuitous goal but had reasonable shooting stats given the fixture. Does hold the prized position of CAM.  Returned in 2 consecutive games although it was 4  blanks prior to that

Amalfitano

A pretty quiet game with little attacking threat but cheapies arent bought for these fixtures

Long

Scored and had a couple of chances but will suffer from rotation as he did last year with 3 strikers predominantly in the one position.  Only his first goal in 8 appearances

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