Despite failing to secure the three points, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchal would have been pleased to come away from Elland Road with a tenth clean sheet in twelve matches since his appointment in January.
Tuchel has set about shoring up the Blues backline and key to that has been the return to the line up and subsequent form of Andreas Christensen.
The Danish centre back struggled to establish himself under previous manager Frank Lampard but after initially coming back into the side to replace the injured Thiago Silva, is now a crucial component of his new boss’ strategy.
As part of Tuchel’s preferred 3-4-2-1 formation, the 24-year-old is often deployed in the centre of left of the back three, where he has shone in recent games, primarily due to his ball-playing ability.
Against Leeds, however, Chelsea lined up 4-2-3-1 with Christensen on the right of a centre back pairing with Antonio Rudigar.
While the adjustment seemed to have blunted the Blues attack, the defence remained resistant as Christensen continued to impress.
The Dane ended the game having attempted 71 passes, second only to midfielder N’Golo Kante.
Christensen also achieved 93% Pass success which was the highest of any player who completed 90 minutes and only second to Reece James who completed all 9 of his passes as late substitute.
An assured if unspectacular performance was in keeping with the player’s recent form with Christensen making himself difficult to dislodge.
According to the breaking the lines website , only Manchester City duo John Stones and Ruben Dias had completed more passes per 90 minutes from centre back this season before Chelsea’s trip to Leeds.
Within the Chelsea squad, Christensen is only second to Silva when it comes to pass success this season on 92.4% compared to the Brazilian’s 93.2%.
Tuchel has even suggested he may keep the player in his starting eleven when SIlva returns in order to pair the two together.
“They can play together for sure” the manager said ahead of the Leeds game. “I’m very sure that Christensen can play on both sides of the back three and they can also play together as centre-backs in a back four as well.
“The position in the middle is the best for Thiago but Andreas is also on the same level and he can also play on both sides so there is no problem.”
