A 3-1 away defeat to Leeds United exposes Chelsea's biggest weakness, limiting them to a top-five finish and ruling out a title challenge.

At 04:15 on December 4th Beijing time, during the 14th round of the Premier League, Chelsea traveled to play against Leeds United, a newly promoted side battling relegation.

In the first half, Bjørnsen headed in to break the deadlock, and Tanaka Aoi scored a stunning goal to extend Leeds' lead; Esteban received a yellow card for a foul, leaving Chelsea 0-2 down at halftime. In the second half, Neto pulled one back for Chelsea, Palmer returned from injury as a substitute, Adarabioyo’s mistake gifted Leeds a chance, and Lewin sealed the victory with a goal.

In the end, Leeds United defeated Chelsea 3-1, ending Chelsea’s winless streak in the last two league matches!

For Leeds vs Chelsea, Falk set up a 3-5-2 formation with a starting lineup valued at €157 million;Maresca deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation; with Caicedo suspended for three games, Draper moved forward, supported by João Pedro behind him, with Gittens and Esteban on the flanks. André Santos and Enzo partnered in defensive midfield, while Cucurella, Badiashile, Adarabioyo, and Chalobah formed the back four, and Sánchez guarded the goal, the starting lineup worth €462 million.

Chelsea suffered a comprehensive defeat in this match, which highlights that the current Blues squad is only capable of comfortably competing for a top-five spot but lacks the strength to contend for the title. It also reveals Chelsea’s biggest flaw: fear of passionate, physical teams.

In my opinion, Maresca’s Chelsea prefers a technical style of play but struggles against teams that rely on physicality and intensity. Therefore, Chelsea performs better against strong teams but struggles against lower-table sides that play with physicality and pace. Additionally, Maresca’s tactical approach has flaws; with Caicedo suspended, he still rotated the center-back pairing, showing he underestimated relegation-threatened Leeds United, resulting in a 1-3 loss. This Chelsea is far from title contention, but with their squad, securing a Champions League spot in the Premier League remains achievable.

Leeds United’s 3-1 win over Chelsea is not an upset! Looking at the match stats, although Leeds had only 29% possession, less than a third, they managed 17 shots, three more than Chelsea; Leeds also had five shots on target, three more than Chelsea.