Chelsea finally ended their visitor’s fifteen match unbeaten run last night with a resounding three-nil home win that took them back to the top of the table. Birmingham were no match for Carlo Ancelotti’s side and headed back to the Midlands perhaps lucky to have only conceded three. Here’s a few pointers on the game…

Frank Back In the Goals

In their two league games without Didier Drogba, Chelsea have scored ten goals and conceded two. In a sense, Drogba’s absence at the African Cup of Nations has been nothing but beneficial to the Blues, as Carlo Ancelotti has implemented a tactical variant which gives the team more width and movement, and allows Frank Lampard to get in amongst the goals again.

This chalkboard shows the last two home league games Lampard played alongside Drogba before the ACoN; of the six shots he had at goal, only one was inside the area.

This chalkboard, however, shows Frank’s goal attempts in the last two home league games without Drogba; of the eleven shots he had, six were inside the box, with the new system allowing him to find space and time his runs into the box, as in previous seasons.

Pass Masters

Chelsea’s last encounter with Birmingham saw the league leaders struggle to break their opponents down in a goalless draw at St Andrews. Last night, however, the host’s passing and movement was a continual problem for Alex McLeish’s men; as shown by this chalkboard, the width afforded by the 4-1-4-1 system saw the league leaders make almost 100 passes more than in the two team’s previous encounter. Chelsea pass percentage was far higher last night, too: 89% success rate as opposed to 82% last time round, as they moved the ball around with more speed and intent.

The Deco Effect

With Drogba out the picture, Ancelotti’s plan had been to play Deco and Joe Cole behind Anelka in a Christmas tree formation. Somehow by default -due to the ACoN combined with Juliano Belletti’s injury- the little Portugese playmaker instead played at the base of the midfield.

Whilst his passing is pretty much a given, it was his defensive performance that impressed; as this chalkboard shows, Deco took to the DM task with relish, making more tackles and interceptions than any other Chelsea player last night.

Whereas Ancelotti tends to opt for a more physical presence to shield the defence, Deco’s intelligence, positional awareness and use of space brought out the best in those around him; as this chalkboard shows, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, linking time and again with him, made 110 passes between them, with 109 being successful, as he offered himself for an out ball all throughout the match.

Drogba’s Return

Add the FA Cup goals into the mix, and Chelsea have now hit seventeen goals in four games in the big man’s absence. Drogba’s role in the team is, however, without question. Like Terry and Lampard, if he’s fit and ready, he plays.

Now the Ivory Coast is eliminated from the ACoN and Drogba’s back in training, Ancelotti is faced with a dilemma; does he revert back to his beloved diamond system and pair him with Anelka, or does he dare continue with a system which is clearly getting the best out of Frank Lampard and has the team playing brilliant football? With Chelsea sitting top of the league with a game in hand over their rivals, it’s a problem he undoubtedly won’t mind having.

Hopefully- as they also have a DGW this week: burnley (away), hull (away)- Carlo will continue the recent trend of announcing his teams a day or two before Saturday’s first match, as many of us FPL managers are continuing to hedge our bets (and hold back on transfers) until the matter becomes a little clearer.