What is the biggest weakness of the Premier League title contenders Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea?

The grueling winter schedule is officially underway this weekend. It’s that time of year that the regulators hate but the supporters love, when the matches are so thick and fast it’s easy to lose track of the leaderboard.

But when we broadcast on January 2, there will be 21 rounds of the Premier League. Tables can vary significantly.

The most interesting area likely to be affected is at the top, where Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are two points apart in a title challenge that looks set to hit the wire.

All three teams have six matches in a 23-day period, while Chelsea and Liverpool also have an EFL Cup quarter-final this month.

It will be a busy period that is likely to reveal any flaws in the respective camps, and certainly by the time Liverpool meet Chelsea at Stamford Bridge just at the end of the festive period, things could look very different. above.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the respective weaknesses of each of the three title challengers, none of which are likely to prove quite strong after playing so many games in such a short period of time. The winter schedule is chargeable.

City of Manchester

Pep Guardiola’s most pressing problem remains the lack of an outstanding striker, because despite being at the top of the league, rotating a different player each week into the number nine role is reducing the scoring rate. their.

Man City have scored the least of the three title contenders, 32 in 15 games, which is their lowest goal-per-game average (2.1) since Guardiola’s first season – when Man City third.

Four of their wins this season have resulted in just one goal, including the last two against West Ham United and Aston Villa, and neither of these teams were lucky to pick up a point due to late focus.

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City need to be able to put the games to sleep a little better, but of all the more interest are the 0-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, the 0-0 draw with Southampton and the 0-2 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Again, this isn’t a disaster considering their position in the league, but it can become an issue when feet and minds get tired during the festive period.

And it’s not just about missing a rough touch in the box; In the three matches above, Man City proved to be too slow, unable to open the low line due to constantly playing attack in front of the defence.

They have lacked penetration since Leroy Sane’s departure, an issue that is symbolized by the way Jack Grealish is struggling to solve. He persistently received the ball, kept it, then made a simple pass inside, unsure of his creativity.

Perhaps things will improve once Kevin De Bruyne returns to full fitness, but for now, Grealish shows City’s lack of creativity, by going in the opposite direction, confusing defenders and piercing through. break the defense.

Defensively, City are strong, although a few flaws have crept into their game recently. They are starting to look a bit vulnerable to a sharp counter-attack behind their defence whenever Aymeric Laporte or John Stones play.

Looking at their upcoming fixtures, Wolves could potentially force a nasty 0-0 draw and Leeds United will test any new difficulties in the transition, but then they must face facing teams that are in low form: Newcastle, Leicester, Brentford and Arsenal.

Liverpool

The 3-3 draw with Brentford and the 2-2 draw with Brighton have raised some concerns about Liverpool’s counter-attacking ability, and as we wrote in November analyzing their goals conceded this season. This award shows that the main problem is the lack of Georginio Wijnaldum in midfield.

His deft presence in the middle, dodging opponents’ challenges and intelligently recycling the ball, has kept Liverpool in control of games in their 2019-20 championship year – 14 of which won their tournament by a single goal. That capacity to lead and hold on has disintegrated.

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Wijnaldum’s positional awareness from the center left of midfield is also important in breaking counters or snuffing them out in the first place, while conversely his regular substitutes – Alex Oxlade Chamberlain or Curtis Jones – made small mistakes in the construction to give in to Brighton, Brentford and Atletico Madrid.

These defensive problems, exacerbated by Virgil van Dijk playing below his best as he continues to recover from an ACL injury, could hurt Liverpool as games progress. every few days.

Aston Villa, Tottenham, Leeds, Leicester and Chelsea are all tough matches that will contain moments where Jurgen Klopp’s squad is stretched.

Going forward, it is said that there is an over-reliance on the genius Mohamed Salah. They are lacking the additional creative source from midfield – which Harvey Elliot will provide – and will lose Salah and Sadio Mane to AFCON in January.

Liverpool need to get points before that, but unfortunately they look most likely among the three title contenders to emerge for the rest of December.

Chelsea

The biggest of the three is probably Chelsea, whose stability like a machine this season has been aided by squad depth and tactical change.

It is noteworthy that this season they only dropped Liverpool, Man City, Burnley (which somehow failed to convert 2.88xG into more than 1 goal) and West Ham.

Their ability to score goals is arguably their biggest weakness. Even before Romelu Lukaku’s injury, he didn’t seem to settle down well, often playing with his back to goal and looking more like a Manchester United-era target than the nimble forward we all know. seen at Inter.

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Whether that was a deliberate strategy by Thomas Tuchel remains to be seen, although his co-ordination with Timo Werner in the 3-3 draw with Zenit was encouraging.

However, Opta have Chelsea’s xG of 26.19, far below their actual total of 35, while they have the second best conversion rate in the league, at 14.77%.

All in all, they’re scoring more points than they need to based on chances created, despite a “Big Chance” conversion rate of just 46.15% – eighth highest in the division – indicating a handful of times. clear miss.

The real flaw is creating opportunities in the game when the opponent chooses to sit deep. Tuchel worked hard to get his team to play fast through the lines and put their strikers behind the defence at the earliest opportunity, but most of the time they failed to do so.

Instead, Chelsea can look a bit mechanical, with their strict construction and positioning accuracy becoming an issue when facing a brick wall.

That’s just a minor worry at the moment, and one that Reece James’ influence is largely making irrelevant, even though it could become a problem. But maybe not this winter.

They have the easiest schedule, meeting Leeds, Everton, Wolves, Brentford, Villa and Brighton before hosting Liverpool to Stamford Bridge in January. None of those teams can withstand pressure from a low defence, aside from Everton, whose two-man midfield is easy to overwhelm by Chelsea.

Chelsea, then, were the team most likely to emerge after Christmas with the top spot in the Premier League.