Graham Potter continues to cling to his position at Chelsea despite another week without a win or a goal. A miserable 2:0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last time was exacerbated by the loss of star defender Thiago Silva to injury. The club ended February by scoring just one goal in the entire month. Potter claims that he “feels the desire of the players to change the results”, but this is unlikely to happen unless they can resolve their goal problems, having only scored six times in all competitions since 6th November. In addition, the hosts are on a six-match streak without a win and if this continues here, it will go down in history as their seventh winless streak will be their longest such streak since 1994/95. The pensioners have eight victories and seven world victories, which correspond to 31 points and tenth position in the standings. Azpilicueta, Borgia, Kante, Mendy, Pulisic and Silva, who has a knee injury, will not be able to take part in this duel.
Leeds United are fighting for survival, which gives the hosts a chance to stop a terrible run down the tournament distance. The Yorkshire side are fighting for their lives in the Premier League, where Xavi Gracia’s side won with an important goal against Southampton in the league’s last clash. This allowed them to move one point higher from the relegation zone. The team’s poor performance in the FA Cup, where they were defeated by Fulham (0:2), after which Gracia called his team “unlucky”, but has little time to think, as he tries to lead Leeds to a second away victory in Premier League in a season. There is hope for success, given that the guests managed to beat Liverpool. Strake, Sinnestra, Rodrigo, Dallas and Forshaw, who has a broken leg, will not be able to play today.
