Chelsea were abject to say the least on Wednesday evening as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road
Twenty-five per cent. That is Chelsea’s win-rate in the Premier League without Moises Caicedo in the side since the Ecuadorian joined the club ahead of the 2023/24 season.
It is a small sample size because Caicedo is a mainstay in the Blues XI. The former Brighton midfielder, who moved to Stamford Bridge for a British record transfer fee – at the time – of £116million, is a physical freak. The amount of minutes he plays and somehow manages to avoid muscular injuries, it is quite staggering.
Caicedo is human, though, and has been nursing a knee problem in recent weeks, but his current absence is due to suspension following his straight red card in the draw with Arsenal at the weekend. Chelsea’s first match without Caicedo while he is suspended came on Wednesday evening, with the Blues being bullied by Leeds United at Elland Road.
Chelsea’s most expensive signing usually sets the tone in and out of possession – and the Blues seriously missed that in Yorkshire. His absence was not the sole reason for their defeat, but it was certainly an integral factor.
When asked if Chelsea missed Caicedo on Wednesday, head coach Enzo Maresca responded: “I think, again, we missed Moi tonight, we’re going to miss Moi in the next game. He’s an important player.
“In the same way, even if the results were different, but in the same way we missed Cole [Palmer], in the same way we missed players that for us are important. Moi is a player that for us is an important player for any team in the world because he is top.”
Maresca took the decision to rest Caicedo last month away at Burnley after the Ecuador midfielder returned late from international duty. Chelsea did not need Caicedo on the day, fortunately, but the head coach joked post-match: “I won’t do it [rest Caicedo] any more. This is the last time!”
While the comment was undoubtedly tongue-in-cheek, there was an element of sincerity in what Maresca said. Such is the significance of the Blues midfielder to this squad, any game without him in the side leaves a huge void to fill.
Andrey Santos tried to fill said void at Elland Road but could not make the same impact, despite the Brazil international impressing in recent appearances. In fairness to Santos, no one would expect him to have a similar impact given Caicedo’s status as one of the very best in world football.
Caicedo has a multitude of roles and one includes breaking up play and in turn preventing the opposition’s counter-attacks. It was noticeable the amount Leeds were able to break in Yorkshire and hurt Chelsea in transition. Given the Blues’ opposition this weekend, that presents another problem for Maresca to try and solve.
Chelsea travel to Bournemouth, one of the league’s most effective counter-attacking sides, on Saturday afternoon. Maresca is set to recall captain Reece James this weekend with the England international handed a rest at Elland Road on Wednesday night.
James produced an inspirational performance against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge at the weekend and Maresca decided to start the skipper on the bench in the Leeds game in a bid to manage his minutes.
On Saturday, though, it seems fairly certain that James will return to the side six days after his masterclass in midfield against the Gunners. James’ physicality and defensive ability will undoubtedly help fill the void left by Caicedo’s absence, and hopefully that will be enough to at least paper over some of the cracks in the middle of the pitch. Fully replacing him, though, well that is impossible.
