Chelsea secured a third consecutive win on Saturday with a dominant performance and victory against Leicester City in the Premier League. The Blues ended their six-game winless run last weekend against Leeds before advancing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Borussia Dortmund just a few days later.
After a challenging first few months of 2023, things finally look to be heading in a positive direction for Graham Potter and Chelsea. Despite keeping a clean sheet in the narrow win against Leeds, many still felt questions needed to be answered with the most important test arriving four days later.
With the Blues sat in tenth and a significant number of points away from reaching the top-four race, the current Champions League campaign would be season-defining for the club. Recent form and the one-goal deficit indicated an exit was likely but goals from Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling saw the Blues seal a spot in the next round.
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Just four days later, Chelsea put in another great performance to come out deserved winners against Leicester scoring three goals for the first time since the victory over Wolves on October 8, 2022.
A consistent performer in all of those clashes has been Mateo Kovacic. The 28-year-old midfielder has been handed the captain's armband in the absence of Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta and he was able to contribute at both ends of the pitch in the victory over Leicester.
"Of course it’s nice to score and I’m really happy to help the team," the Croatian explained post-match after his late volley made it 3-1. "But for me, the most important thing is getting the three points. We stood up to the physical challenge from Leicester and I think over the past week, we’ve shown a lot of character to record three important wins.
"We knew we needed to step up and like Chelsea, we always do. The challenge now is to make sure we put in performances like this on a consistent basis and continue to move up the table."
Chelsea are back at Stamford Bridge next weekend as they welcome relegation-threatened Everton. The Toffees beat Brentford at Goodison Park at the same time Chelsea defeated Leicester and will therefore be full of confidence ahead of the clash.
Alongside their recent upturn in results giving them confidence, Chelsea could have another major reason to be excited for the game as N'Golo Kante could make his return. Asked ahead of the Leicester game if Kante could feature, Potter said: "He won’t be – still needs more time to build up. We're aiming maybe for Everton, unfortunately, not for tomorrow [Saturday]."
Chelsea are hopeful of seeing Kante alongside Enzo Fernandez which means if that plan is executed, Kovacic would likely lose his place in the team. However, the recent displays of the Real Madrid man gives Potter an easy decision if Kante is fit and ready for the Everton game.
No competitive action for Kante since August 14 means he will need significant time to become match fit. The partnership struck up between Kovacic and Fernandez therefore means Potter does not need to rush Kante back into the fold and he can slowly rebuild his sharpness with brief cameos.
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