Midfield:
Chelsea looked bereft of any creativity against Liverpool in midfield. N'Golo Kante, as usual, was all over the pitch and was doing his job to retrieve the ball and push it further forward. The other players seemed to be disillusioned by Liverpool's energy on the night. Nemanja Matic was particularly poor and was lacking in both the defensive as well as the creative department.
His chipped cross after taking out two sliding Liverpool players provided some consolation for Chelsea with Diego Costa volleying the ball into the net. Conte, though, will expect much more in terms of his tracking back and his ability to play balls forward.
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Oscar was missing against Liverpool and had a poor game. Cesc Fabregas seems set to replace him in midfield with his wonderful game in the EFL Cup. New Blues manager Antonio Conte has pushed Fabregas out of the starting eleven, limiting him to cameo appearances. Fabregas, however, took the opportunity presented to him midweek with both hands as he scored two goals which completed a wonderful comeback win over Leicester at the King Power stadium.
Looking at Conte's Juventus and Italian teams, it is easy to figure out that he needs people who put in hard work and running across the pitch. His need for quick pressing and the requirement of quick players to implement them had left Fabregas adrift in the Chelsea squad. It seemed to Conte that Fabregas was not putting his shift of work for the team and looked set to be out of his plans.
The lack of game time and his unhappiness on the situation put many giant clubs on alert. Among them Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan were all said to be interested in the Spanish international, but his showing at Leicester could provide a U-turn for his career. The attention given to his availability though he was not playing, comes to show how a talented midfielder like him will always be wanted by some other club, if not Chelsea.
Fabregas looked a livewire on the night, though Chelsea fell two goals behind courtesy of Shinji Okazaki. The Spaniard was all over the pitch and his contributions bore fruit when he expertly found Gary Cahill from a corner which began Chelsea's comeback and set the tone for the game to come.
His involvement in all four goals showed his dominance in the game, and the excellent third goal which put Chelsea ahead was a great team goal finished aplomb by the man himself. The hunger and desire to prove himself on the pitch was evidently seen, and this masterclass has fans calling for his name on the starting team sheet for their upcoming all-London clash against Arsenal. The potential mind game against their rivals, by starting Cesc also adds to the build-up.
With a return of two goals and an assist on the night, Fabregas has made his statement to Conte. He has loads of experience and is not a World Cup winner for show. There are not many people in the footballing world who can play passes like he can, and he deserves credit for stepping up when the given the chance. He is a genius at what he does; dictating the tempo of the game and pulling strings around. A combination of Fabregas-Kante-Matic could be quite a fearsome trio in midfield for Chelsea.
