Chelsea will travel to Molineux on Saturday afternoon to try to win their fourth consecutive Premier League game under new head coach Liam Rosenior. The Blues are in fifth place on the table with 40 points. They are playing the Wolves, who are at the bottom of the Premier League standings and need points badly to have any chance of staying in the league.
The game starts at 3 p.m. UK time (10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT) at Molineux Stadium. Chelsea are in a good mood after winning their first three league games under Rosenior’s leadership against Brentford, Crystal Palace, and West Ham United. The Blues lost 1-0 to Arsenal in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday night, a result that broke their hearts as former player Kai Havertz scored the game-winning goal for the Gunners in stoppage time.
Because of the 3 p.m. blackout, the game won’t be shown live in the UK. However, Match of the Day will show highlights starting at 10:25 p.m. on BBC One. International viewers can watch through their local Premier League broadcast partners. In the US, viewers can stream the game on Peacock.
This weekend, the 41-year-old English coach has a chance to make history in the Premier League. Rosenior could become just the second English manager in Premier League history to win his first four games in charge. The first was Craig Shakespeare, who led Leicester City to victory in their first five games between February and April 2017.
Chelsea have already shown that they are better than their opponents on Saturday. They won 4-3 in the fourth round of the EFL Cup and 3-0 in their last Premier League meeting at Stamford Bridge.
How Liam Rosenior’s Tactical Approach Could Unlock Chelsea’s Potential Against Wolves
Liam Rosenior has used a 4-2-3-1 formation since he took over at Stamford Bridge. This formation changes to a 3-4-3 when the team is attacking. This keeps the tactical style of his predecessor while adding his own unique touches. Sources close to Rosenior’s first training sessions said that intensity has been a big part of his work with the team.
Rosenior’s teams like to carefully recycle possession before breaking through defensive lines when they are fully in control. This is a more measured approach than the fast-paced changes Chelsea sometimes showed before. His overall style focuses on controlling the ball with short passes and building up from the back quickly and on purpose to create good chances.
This way of thinking about tactics should work especially well against Wolves’ deep defensive block, since the team at the bottom of the table will probably put defensive organization above all else.
Marc Cucurella and Reece James (or Malo Gusto) now stay wider to offer underlaps or overlaps and help the high press by recycling possession. This is a small but important change from Maresca’s method, where both full-backs inverted at the same time, which sometimes made the team vulnerable during transitions. Rosenior’s more balanced approach should make the defense more stable while keeping the attack strong in wide areas.