Chelsea's Defensive Grit Underpins Role as EPL Title Favorites

Chelsea's dominance at the top of the Premier League continues at pace, and even though they left Old Trafford with just a point following Robin van Persie's late goal on Sunday, they are still very much in control of the title race.

With Manchester City slipping up, it actually turned out to be another great weekend for Jose Mourinho's side, even though they dropped two points against Manchester United.

Without Diego Costa and Loic Remy, Didier Drogba grabbed the headlines as he so often has in the past, stepping into sizable shoes to grab Chelsea's goal. But yet again, another solid performance in defence laid the platform for an impressive away showing.

When you've got the likes of Costa, Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas causing havoc at the other end of the field, it's perhaps to be expected that Chelsea's defence has slipped under the radar in 2014/15. But on Sunday, it became very evident that Mourinho's ability to make his teams hard to break down is still very much there.

Let's start with the midfield. Watching Chelsea tear forward on the counter-attack yesterday showed that they're incredibly fluid in attack. Oscar, Willian and Hazard were constantly interchanging with each other in midfield, which leads to plenty of attacking chances being carved.

But when Chelsea don't have the ball, they immediately drop into a regimental shape, which instantly makes them tough to break down. The speed in which Chelsea become so rigid when their opponents have the ball is impressive, too. In fact, it's the kind of defensive shape Barcelona became famous for adopting during Pep Guardiola's days with the club.

And sitting behind those midfield three are another two midfielders, one of whom performed in a very different role yesterday. Fabregas was much more subdued in attack, but he was clearly tasked with holding the Blues midfield together with Nemanja Matic yesterday. It worked, too.

Matic could well prove to be Mourinho's shrewdest buy; it must have been a tough sell to convince those upstairs to shell out millions of pounds for a player Chelsea effectively deemed not to be good enough for them several years ago.

But he is the type of midfielder that allows those in front to be so creatively expressive by completing simple passes and breaking down attacks when Chelsea do not have the ball. He makes five defensive actions a game, per Squawka, which, for a midfielder, is quite a hefty amount.

Chelsea's central-defensive partnership obviously benefit from playing together so often, but John Terry in particular shows no signs of slowing down this year. He and Gary Cahill have an understanding that few pairings seem to have. Nine goals conceded in nine games is a phenomenal return for Chelsea's defence, and almost everyone has played their part.

And if Chelsea's impressive defensive line is somehow breached, they have to get past the ever-impressive Thibaut Courtois. Sunday was perhaps Courtois' finest moment in a Chelsea shirt so far; he seems to be providing an incredibly calming influence on those around him.

He commands his area like few keepers can, leaping to pluck crosses out of the air with consummate ease, defusing dangerous crosses on a frequent basis; that was evident yesterday. Angel Di Maria's left foot has caused a few Premier League opponents problems this year, but Courtois was able to snuff out a multitude of testing balls.

If Chelsea do go on to win the Premier League this season, it will perhaps inevitably be the attacking threat they carry that will be heralded as the reason for their success. But as is often the case with champion teams, Chelsea's defence is impressing just as much.

But with Jose Mourinho in charge, that should hardly come as a surprise.