Obi Mikel: Chelsea missing Caicedo as defence leaks goals

Chelsea have not kept a clean sheet in the Premier League this season, and a recent 2-2 draw left that record looking harder to explain away.

It follows a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal, and puts Enzo Maresci's side fifth with the worst goal difference and the highest number of goals conceded in the top eight. Chelsea have scored 18 and conceded 12 across six games in all competitions this term. Only three teams in the division have conceded more than they have.

A tactical analysis traced the problem to midfield rather than the back four itself, pointing to the absence of Moises Caicedo, who has played just 14 minutes this season because of a calf injury.

"We are missing Moises Caicedo. When we get him back, I think we will be a much, much more solid team," Obi Mikel said. "He is that guy that breaks up play, that makes sure that our back-four is well protected. Our back four is solid. That energy that he brings, break up plays, setting up plays, driving the ball forward, just what Declan Rice is doing for Arsenal. That's what Moises Caicedo brings for us and he's been an absolutely huge miss. As soon as he comes back, I think we'll be a much better team. There's absolutely no question about it."

With Caicedo out, Maresci has paired Romeo Lavia with Reece James in midfield, and the captain no longer looks like a right-back in this set-up.

Paul Merson took a different view of where the problem lies. The former Arsenal midfielder, a lifelong Chelsea fan, said on Sky Sports News that Maresci still has not settled on a back-line shape four games into the league season.

"His problem is going to be, after four league games and two cup games, he won't know what his best defence is yet. He won't know if it's the best back three or five or four," Merson said. "That's a worry and he needs to get that sorted. Maxence Lacroix was left out against Hull and he came on at the end, but Maresci has got to get a solid three if he wants to play three at the back."

Chelsea's summer business was built around fixing exactly this. David Raya replaced the error-prone Robert Sanchez in goal, and Lacroix arrived to add defensive solidity alongside the experience of Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson.

Hull, for context, arrived at Stamford Bridge unbeaten and without having conceded a Premier League goal all season. That takes nothing away from the fact that Chelsea, with the squad and the outlay behind them, are still shipping goals at a rate their position in the table cannot really carry. If Caicedo's return settles the midfield the way Obi Mikel expects, Maresci may find the back four looks after itself. If it does not, Merson's point about the back-line shape will keep resurfacing.