Let’s take a look at the Premier League Player Ratings from the match between Leeds United and Chelsea over at Elland Road.
Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten start as Chelsea manager continued on Saturday in a goalless stalemate away to Leeds United.
The German made six changes to his line-up for the trip to Marcelo Bielsa’s unpredictable, yet entertaining, Leeds. His tweaks helped the club bag a fourth successive clean sheet, and a ninth one since he took charge.
But while the defense thrived once again, the attackers struggled to supply the match-winning goals. Chelsea’s best chance in the first-half came in the opening 10 minutes when a Luke Ayling clearance bounced off Leeds teammate Diego Llorente and hit the bar.
Kai Havertz attempted more shots (4) and shots on target (4) than any other Chelsea player vs. Leeds.
He has as many shots on target as the entire Leeds team combined. pic.twitter.com/zGR57DxD9y
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) March 13, 2021
Kai Havertz, on the other hand, wasted two opportunities to score in Leeds. The German, who once again started in central attack, impressed in his new role under Tuchel, but he failed to make the difference and extended his Premier League goal drought to 16 games.
On the other side of the pitch, meanwhile, Raphinha forced Edouard Mendy into a fine save. Leeds weren’t the dominant side, but the hosts gave a good account of themselves to give Chelsea a stern test at Elland Road.
Edouard Mendy's Chelsea record under Thomas Tuchel:
◉ 9 games
◉ 15 saves made
◉ 7 clean sheets
◉ 2 goals concededHe's barely had to move. 🏖 pic.twitter.com/1fYYpUUT8m
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) March 13, 2021
The hosts, like Chelsea, had their chances. Roberts even had a first-half goal ruled out and hit the crossbar, while Rodrigo Moreno nearly snatched a second-half winner in the final 12 minutes albeit with a weak header.
Losing top-scorer Patrick Bamford before half-time was unfortunate, but Bielsa’s men still ended a two-match losing run to grab an important point.
While Tuchel made a bit of history by equaling Felipe Scolari’s record of going his first 12 games unbeaten as Chelsea manager. He is also undefeated in his opening 10 Premier League outings, second only to former Blues coach Maurizio Sarri and Nottingham Forest’s Frank Clark.
At the end of the day, though, Chelsea lost valuable points. The visitors remain in fourth-place in the Premier League table and will hope West Ham cannot beat Manchester United on Sunday to avoid dropping out of the top-four.
Player ratings
Leeds United: Meslier (8); Ayling (7), Llorente (7), Struijk (7), Alioski (6); Phillips (7); Rafinha (7), Dallas (6), Roberts (7), Harrison (5); Bamford (6).
Bench: Costa (6), Klich (5).
Chelsea: Mendy (7); Azpilicueta (7), Christensen (7), Rudiger (8), Chilwell (7); Kante (8), Jorginho (6); Pulisic (6), Ziyech (6), Mount (7); Havertz (6).
Bench: Werner (6), Hudson-Odoi (6), James (6).
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