Chelsea played into Leeds United’s hands at Elland Road on Wednesday, falling 3-1 to the newly-promoted hosts.
MORE — Enzo Maresca reaction to 3-1 loss
Jaka Bikol, Ao Tanaka, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored for Leeds, who seized a sixth-minute advantage and never looked likely to drop points at home.
Pedro Neto’s goal after halftime was a false dawn for the visotrs, as Chelsea could not find another goal despite the re-introduction of Cole Palmer after a long injury absence.
WATCH — Leeds v Chelsea full match replay
Leeds move onto 14 points, three points more than 18th-place West Ham before the Irons play Thursday.
Chelsea stall on 24 points and are likely to finish the midweek games in their current fourth-place position.
Daniel Farke sets ‘em up, both teams knock ‘em down
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke had a promising game plan for his men against Chelsea, as Leeds started a pair of strikers and had them both press with aggression in the first stanza of the game. It knocked the Blues off-kilter and it doesn’t feel coincidental that Jaka Bijol’s goal came off a press-won corner kick. The Blues helped Leeds, too, with big errors leading to the hosts’ second and third goals. Tosin Adarabioyo’s mistake on the third came with Chelsea pinned in their own third, and Calvert-Lewin’s easy finish of a rebound effectively sucked the air out of a balloon the Blues had started to inflate with Pedro Neto’s 50th-minute goal. So, yes, Leeds won this game but Chelsea played its role in squandering their opportunities, too. And another point for another day as we watch Chelsea deal with Moises Caicedo’s suspension — the midfielder’s glaring absence loomed large over their efforts to come back. (NM)
What’s next?
Chelsea head to Bournemouth at 10am ET Saturday, then visit Atalanta on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League.
Leeds host Liverpool at 12:30pm Saturday.
Leeds vs Chelsea final score: 3-1
Jaka Bijol 7', Ao Tanaka 43', Pedro Neto 50', Dominic Calvert-Lewin 72'
Leeds vs Chelsea live updates — by Nick Mendola
Chelsea sub
Marc Guiu comes into the game for Andriy Santos.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin goal — Leeds 3-1 Chelsea
Pitiful from Chelsea.
Malo Gusto wins a tackle deep in his own end and passes square to Tosin Adarabioyo, whose touch is off.
Noah Okafor’s sliding kick is only partially-absorbed by Robert Sanchez, and Calvert-Lewin buries the rebound.
The two-goal lead is back for Leeds.
Chelsea subs include Cole Palmer
Cole Palmer makes his long-awaited return for Chelsea, and he enters the game alongside Alejandro Garnacho.
Gittens and Delap give way. Gittens assisted the Neto goal but Delap had not looked sharp.
Pedro Neto goal — Leeds 2-1 Chelsea
Jamie Gittens blazes past James Justin on the left and chips a cross toward the other side of the six.
Pedro Neto has time to settle it and belt it inside the post and the Blues are back within one.
Chelsea halftime subs
Pedro Neto and Malo Gusto will look to get Chelsea out of their 2-0 deficit, taking the places of Estevao Williand and Benoit Badiashile.
Halftime — Leeds 2-0 Chelsea
Enzo Maresca can feel the rotation questions being readied for his post-match, but Chelsea are also very much missing the suspended Moises Caicedo.
Chelsea have been flummoxed by Leeds commitment at the back and the hosts have made the most of their chances. They are on their way to a surprising three points if the Blues stay asleep.
Ao Tanaka goal — Leeds 2-0 Chelsea
We were just about to post for the sake of posting, to let you know we’ve just been watching Chelsea possess without much danger.
So of course Leeds go and double their lead.
Chelsea give away the ball in their own third and it’s quickly on the boot of Ao Tanaka for a sumptuous finish from 18 yards.
Jaka Bijol goal — Leeds 1-0 Chelsea
The hosts are aggressive early, especially in the press, and win a corner kick.
Jaka Bijol is free and clear of mark Liam Delap and runs in front of a leaping Trevoh Chalobah to turn a header across goal and inside the far post.
Leeds lineup
Perri, Bogle, Gundmundsson, Rodon, Bijol, Struijk, Ampadu, Tanaka, Stach, Nmecha, Calvert-Lewin
Chelsea lineup
Sanchez, Badiashile, Chalobah, Tosin, Cucurella, Fernandez, Santos, Estevao, Gittens, Pedro, Delap
Leeds vs Chelsea preview — by Joe Prince-Wright
Enzo Maresca’s side played over half of their 1-1 home draw with Arsenal on Sunday down a player and were disappointed not to win. That shows you how far they’ve come. Chelsea have plenty of key players coming back from injury and Maresca will keep rotating to keep everyone fresh, as they sit six points behind leaders Arsenal heading into the midweek slate of games.
Leeds sit in the relegation zone after a run of four defeats in a row, but they put in a much better performance in their 3-2 defeat at Manchester City at the weekend. Manager Daniel Farke is under serious pressure but Leeds fought back from 2-0 down at City to make it 2-2 before letting in a late goal to lose. Leeds are only in the relegation zone on goal difference but they’ve failed to build on a positive start to the season and have lost six of their last seven.
Leeds team news, focus
Lukas Nmecha has taken his chance to start, scoring in each of his last three games, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin jumped off the bench against City to score and win the penalty kick which led to Nmecha’s goal. Could DCL and Nmecha start as a duo to give Leeds more cutting edge in attack? Perhaps. Elsewhere Sean Longstaff is out but Anton Stach could return after his concussion. Winger Dan James is out and Sebastiaan Bornauw is a doubt.
Chelsea team news, focus
Midfielder Moises Caicedo is suspended after his reckless red card against Arsenal, which causes a problem in midfield for Chelsea with Romeo Lavia still out injured. Andrey Santos will likely come in to start with Maresca eager to manage the minutes of Reece James given his injury history. Elsewhere, Cole Palmer could play a part after being an unused sub against Arsenal as he’s returned to fitness. The likes of Liam Delap, Alejandro Garnacho, Jamie Gittens and Tosin could all start as Maresca likes to rotate, and will likely need to after that grueling draw against Arsenal.
Leeds vs Chelsea prediction
This feels like it will be a really good lesson as to how deep this Chelsea squad is and several fringe players will step up and shine. Leeds 0-3 Chelsea.
How to watch Leeds vs Chelsea live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3:15pm ET Wednesday (December 3)
Venue: Elland Road — Leeds
TV Channel: Peacock
Streaming: Stream live on Peacock
