Derby County vs. Chelsea: Tactical Preview of Capital One Cup Game
The Capital One Cup quarter-finals kick off on Tuesday evening with Chelsea's visit to Derby County in the Midlands. Jose Mourinho will be hungry for another trophy in his career and go all-out to win.
Here are three tactical talking points and questions to keep you warm while you wait for kick-off.
1. Filipe Luis vs. Cesar Azpilicueta, Episode VII
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The Luis vs. Azpilicueta saga took another turn this weekend, with the former coming in to play left-back against Hull City while the latter slipped to the bench. Branislav Ivanovic continued on the right-hand side of defence.
We are midway through December and still completely unclear as to who is king on the left-hand side long-term, an odd situation to be in given Chelsea have played about 25 games this season already.
Who Mourinho picks to play against the Rams may give us some indication as to who is edging the battle. If Azpilicueta comes in, Luis may be set for consecutive Premier League starts on the left next weekend.
The two are night and day in terms of styles—mostly due to Azpilicueta being right-footed and playing left—but the Spaniard's attacking game has risen several notches since Luis arrived. It's a great contest, and the Blues essentially have two of the best full-backs in the league dueling for one spot.
On paper, Luis would be better here to offer width and attacking ingenuity against a Derby side that will be required to defend.
2. Gary Cahill Under Pressure?
Cahill's form has dropped off a cliff recently, and the cup match with Derby is an ideal chance to drop him to the bench and assess other options. Here, Mourinho essentially has three choices: play Andreas Christensen, rewarding him for a good debut vs. Shrewsbury, bring Kurt Zouma in again, who has been a strong rotational option, or slide Ivanovic inside and play Azpilicueta at right-back.
Given it's a quarter-final, the most Mourinho thing to do would be to not drop Cahill, but it's not just the performance against Hull that's bugging fans—it's the several preceding it, too.
Zouma's shown improvements in the Champions League when allowed to play and is clearly learning from John Terry and Co., while Christensen is ready to play first-team football and will be baying for a chance.
It's not the safest thing to do in a pressured cup tie, but the Portuguese would be wise to cast his net a little wider here.
3. Derby Will Play Their Own Game
Things haven't changed at Derby over the summer; the same, pass-first team that lost so cruelly in the play-off finals to Queens Park Rangers in May still play the same way.
Steve McClaren is still in charge and doing things the "right way," hoping for automatic promotion this time around rather than the lottery of the play-off setup. His Rams side dominated QPR at Wembley and have been dominating Championship teams since the season began.
Per WhoScored.com, Derby rank first in average possession per game (56.9 percent), pass success rate (81.6 percent) and short passes per game (440 per game).
McClaren won't be phased by Chelsea and will instruct his players, playing out of a typical base 4-3-3, that it's their chance to shine on the ball and prove they can match Chelsea. With only one enforced change (Jake Buxton in for Ryan Shotton) and the potential return to the XI of Will Hughes, the Rams will be eager to make up for a poor loss to Middlesbrough at the weekend.
Don't expect a parking of the bus or stoic defending; Derby will attack, pass, move and shoot at will.
