Isidor equalised for Sunderland against Chelsea. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

The numbers making us worried about Chelsea’s Tottenham clash

Originally posted on Chelsea News | Last updated Oct 27, 2025 7:30 AM ET

Chelsea are not good team defensively. After 9 games played, we can say that pretty confidently now.

The trend is emerging. Without even having had particularly hard games, we’re the fifth worst team in terms of XG conceded. Only Burnley, West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Man U are worse. They are doing well in terms of goals conceded, but the reality will catch up with the numbers eventually.

Chelsea’s weakening stats could mean a bad run

A lack of defensive strength would be more tolerable if we were scoring a lot – but that’s trending the wrong way too. We created 0.9 xG against Sunderland, down from 1.7 against Nottingham Forest, 1.0 against Liverpool, 1.8 against Brighton, 0.4 against Man U… you get the idea.

This time last year it was 4.2, 1.7, 2.3, 2.4, against similar opposition. It’s a huge difference and will add up over the season.

Is it just the Cole Palmer effect? Is it missing Noni Madueke’s one on one ability? Is it fatigue? It’s just not working right now and it’s a painful watch. Luckily a game against Wolves should give us a chance to rotate and build confidence – but Spurs next weekend is a scary prospect right now if we attack and defend like we did on Saturday.

In other news…

Mamadou Sarr was in action on Sunday night as Strasbourg took on Lyon. He did well but in the end they were beaten. We’re not sure he’s the solution to our defensive problems just yet. He has similar flaws to the options we already have there.

We’ve just been writing that Chelsea need a dominant aerial player to come in and be a physical monster to compete in this league – could Sarr develop into that? He’s got the frame for it, if he hits the gym.

This article first appeared on Chelsea News and was syndicated with permission.

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