After managing to secure a point against table-topping Arsenal despite being reduced to ten men on the weekend, Enzo Maresca's Chelsea were brought back down to earth on Wednesday night with a 3-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Leeds United. The Stamford Bridge faithful have singled out one player for criticism, though, claiming that he needs to be offloaded.
Unlikely scorer Jaka Bijol bagged his first goal for the Yorkshire outfit inside six minutes as he latched onto the end of Anton Stach's corner after escaping Liam Delap and beating Trevoh Chalobah in the air. Ao Tanaka then doubled his side's lead two minutes shy of the half-time interval with a wonderfully-taken strike from outside the box.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Chelsea have only won 19% of their Premier League games away to Leeds United (3/16).
Left to float in at the back stick, Pedro Neto gave the visiting Blues a slither of hope in the 50th as he halved the deficit. Gabriel Gundmundsson's extended leg couldn't do enough to stop the Portuguese, but it was merely a consolation as Dominic Calvert-Lewin added Leeds' third of the affair in the 72nd minute after a catalogue of errors at the back for Maresca's men.
Inside Chelsea Star's Shocker at Elland Road
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There were very few players who covered themselves in glory at Elland Road, a tough place to go for the west Londoners given their under-the-radar rivalry. And one man, in particular, who will be feeling the wrath after a poor display against the Whites is Tosin Adarabioyo, who was stationed in the middle of the back four alongside Benoit Badiashile.
At the half-time interval, Badiashile was replaced by Malo Gusto and Chalobah joined Adarabioyo in the middle of the back four – but it was certainly a night to forget for the former Manchester City academy star, who joined the Blues for free in the summer of 2024.
The most notable moment of his performance against Daniel Farke's men came with just shy of 20 minutes left of regulation time. With Chelsea chasing an equaliser, Adarabioyo's nerves crept through, and he took a heavy touch inside his own penalty box; Noah Okafor was quickest to pounce on his mistake and Calvert-Lewin soon bagged Leeds' third.
GOAL's Player Ratings were not kind to the Englishman. "Spent most of the first half shuttling the ball between his fellow defenders," they wrote before adding: "Put Fernandez under pressure with an unwanted square pass back into danger ahead of Tanaka's goal, then got robbed by Nmecha for the third. A night to forget."
Why not give Josh Acheampong more of a run-out? The youngster, 19, has looked tidy in his 499 minutes of action in 2025/26 and with Levi Colwill currently out nursing an injury, dropping Adarabioyo to the bench and promoting Acheampong (even if it is just for the foreseeable) would be a wise move from Maresca, one of the Premier League's finest tactical minds.
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Adarabioyo is not a bad defender by any stretch of the imagination, but his dawdling on the ball – like he did moments before Calvert-Lewin's hammer blow – will only harm Chelsea's title-chasing credentials. Wesley Fofana, too, is an option and skipper Reece James can also provide cover in the beating heart of the defence if push comes to shove.
Chelsea Fans Implore Maresca to Drop Tosin, They Want Him Sold
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It's the best option for all parties to leave Adarabioyo out of the spotlight for the time being. Up next for Maresca and his entourage is a trip to the south coast to lock horns with Bournemouth before visiting Bergamo to face Atalanta in the Champions League. Both matches, as a means of bouncing back from their Leeds defeat, are must-win matches.
"I don't ever want Tosin to ever to start for Chelsea again," one fan said on X (formerly Twitter) as a result of his costly mistake inside a raucous Elland Road. Another added: "Never want to see Tosin start again. Don’t know what happened to him this season, but he has been terrible." Frustrated, a third wrote: "Tosin is done at Chelsea."
Referencing the fact that Chelsea didn't pay a penny for the London-born defender's signature in 2024 as his Craven Cottage contract had reached its conclusion, another fan of the Blues believes they still managed to get 'robbed'.
"We bought Tosin for £0 and still got robbed by Fulham."
**"**That has to be the end of Tosin at Chelsea," another member of the Stamford Bridge faithful claimed, before referencing the potential reaction if Acheampong made such a mistake. "If Josh made that mistake, we would never see him again." A final fan, putting it bluntly, wrote that his contract should be ripped up: "TERMINATE TOSIN’S CONTRACT NOW!!!"