With a quarter of the season already accounted for Chelsea are well poised. Third in the Premier League with 19 points, two behind Tottenham and Liverpool, Frank Lampard’s side are looking to extend the current unbeaten run (excluding shoot-outs) to 16 games in all competitions and nine in the top flight.

The visit of promoted Leeds is the 49th Premier League match for the Blues’ head coach, and he has already achieved 25 wins (Kevin Keegan managed 30 over his first 50 in charge of Newcastle in 1993-4). His side are yet to lose from a winning position this season.

Saturday’s match is the second of four consecutive 8pm starts and the first of two to be played in front of fans at Stamford Bridge, after nine months behind closed doors.

The visitors have not been seen at the Bridge for even longer – not since May 2004, and they lost their last three games on the Fulham Road before relegation that season. In fact, the Yorkshiremen have left the capital pointless after 17 of their past 24 visits to London, winning once, at QPR in December 2017.

It is the first meeting for any kind between the long-distance rivals since the Blues’ 5-1 success at Elland Road in the League Cup eight years ago this month.

Chelsea team news

Third-placed Chelsea are in fine fettle going into this weekend. The Blues have made the most passes in the top flight this season, and no rival has scored more goals.

Wednesday’s 4-0 victory over Sevilla was important for several reasons. It clinched a first-place finish in the group, was a club-record victory on Spanish soil, featured changed personnel but barely missed a beat, racked up goals and secured another clean sheet. Perfecto.

Three days later Leeds, energetic and rested, present a new and tricky challenge. Frank Lampard knows what to expect from Marcelo Biesla’s team – the two coaches met four times in the Championship and its play-offs two seasons ago. In their maiden season back in the top flight Leeds have won 150 tackles – 26 more than the next club.It may have been in anticipation of the intensity of the Whites’ approach that Chelsea players were rested in Seville and nine changes made from the starting 11 against Tottenham last weekend (though only N’Golo Kante and Timo Werner have played every game in the league to date). Following that Spurs draw, Edouard Mendy and his defenders Kurt Zouma and Ben Chilwell have kept five clean sheets in six Premier League games together.

With no fresh injuries the Londoners may reinstate most of the personnel who were unlucky not to beat Spurs. After that game ended 0-0, though, all eyes will be on who leads the attack against the Yorkshiremen.Olivier Giroud’s four-goal showing in Andalusia was pretty persuasive, and Leeds are sometimes not the best aerially: only Sheffield United and Leicester this season have conceded more goals from set-plays.

That said, Leeds do not really play an offside trap, meaning strikers with more pace than the Frenchman may benefit with runs behind. Tammy Abraham has already netted against Bielsa’s side, in 2018/19 while on loan with Aston Villa, and has also led the line with pace and intelligence.

Another who impressed in midweek was Kai Havertz, a regular starter before his Covid lay-off. The German has the lock-picking qualities to hurt Leeds side if they lose possession upfield.

Whoever makes the cut, Lampard will hope his team match Leeds’ effort and then show the same ruthlessness evident on Wednesday. Any win will take the Blues a point clear at the top, at least until Sunday, when Liverpool-Wolves follows the north London derby at Tottenham.

The Bielsa method

Marcelo Bielsa appeared to repair the hole in his bucket last weekend in a dominant victory over Everton, who were inferior in every department but lost out only to winger Raphinha’s strike. After the travails of recent weeks it was reminiscent of the no-holds-barred performances against Manchester City, with whom Leeds drew 1-1, and Liverpool, who only just edged past the Whites 4-3 on the opening day of the season.

Without the ball, the Argentinian has his team set up pressing man-to-man all over the pitch, with a centre-back left spare. His methodology requires intelligent players of good judgment, though, and can unravel against teams able to pass and probe rapidly and accurately.

When Leeds gain possession it is as if the pistol has fired on a sprint race, with lots of bodies committed forward. They are very vertical in their attacks, feeding off long passes aimed upfield towards former Blue Patrick Bamford – reminiscent of 2016 Leicester in that respect.

Ironically it was the Foxes who in a defensive, counter-attacking strategy, showed how to absorb Leeds’ pressure, then bypass their press and capitalise on the gaps left by full-backs Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas. Powerful central midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who collects and sprays the ball well when allowed, was absent for that 4-1 defeat.

Leeds’ approach is physically and mentally draining, so sometimes they take a breather with a deeper fall-back and no full-field press. Interestingly, they have been outscored in every 15-minute segment of matches except the start of the second half, in which they have netted five and conceded none. Two-thirds of their away league goals have come after the break.

After Wednesday’s late replacement in goal for Sevilla, the Premier League’s leading scorers will face another 20-year-old this weekend in Illan Meslier. Only Mendy has kept more clean sheets than the Frenchman.

The visitors may be without several players on Saturday, and the most significant could be left-winger Jack Harrison, who limped away from the Everton win. However the Manchester City loanee might have recovered in time.

How to watch Chelsea-Leeds

This match will be covered live by Sky Sports in the UK. To find the relevant broadcaster where you are overseas, see the Premier League’s broadcast schedule pages.

More Blues-centric match coverage in Matchday Live begins 70 minutes before kick-off with assessment of the teamsheets and exclusive interviews on the 5th Stand app, Facebook Live and our official YouTube channel.

Punishing the new boys

With 68 wins from 83 matches (82 per cent), Chelsea have enjoyed the most success at home against promoted sides of any established Premier League club. The only defeat in the past 57 such games was 0-1 to Bournemouth in December 2015. Since then the Blues have played 13, won nine, and drawn four.

Football’s shifting geography

In the 28 seasons since Howard Wilkinson’s Leeds clinched the title for Yorkshire in 1991/92, only one club outside of Lancashire and London has been crowned champions of England: Leicester in 2015/16.

Over the previous quarter-century the Whites were joined by others outside the dominant axis in Aston Villa, Derby and Nottingham Forest, but the heyday for white rose clubs was 1920-1930 when Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday scooped five titles.

When the Premier League was formed the county, with a population of three million, contributed three clubs: Leeds, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. Yet Yorkshire has underperformed ever since, with Manchester Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Everton and Manchester City filling the top seven places in a table of all-time Premier League points.

No crowd, no sackings

On 5 December last year Marco Silva became the fifth Premier League head coach to lose his job. So far this season, there have been no managerial casualties in the top flight at all. Is this a result of no supporters in stadiums voicing their disapproval, financial concerns connected to any pay-off or something else? Maybe it is simply that everyone is doing a great job.

Fans return at last

Saturday’s maximum permitted 2,000 spectators will represent Chelsea’s lowest ever crowd at Stamford Bridge. The smallest recorded for a competitive home game was 3,000 estimated in 1906 for a Second Division visit of Lincoln City.

It will be only a 12th of the average home attendance at the Bridge, but any fans’ presence is welcome after a nine-month absence. In the 12 home games since 40,691 watched Everton thrashed 4-0 on 8 March, Chelsea have recorded eight victories, three draws and one defeat, all behind closed doors.

Twenty-eight goals have been scored without fans and players sharing the moment, and seven goals against passed unlamented. Willian and Pedro departed without the public acclaim their stellar contributions warranted and no Chelsea fan has yet witnessed Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz, Edou Mendy, Thiago Silva, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech grace the famous royal blue – at least not in the flesh.

Now 2,000 lucky souls can, and all the information required for ticket-holders to enjoy a safe visit can be found here.

The latest matchday programme

For those not fortunate enough to be at the Bridge for this historic match, the official matchday programme can be bought online for £3.50 plus delivery.

Premier League fixtures

FridayAston Villa v Newcastle (Postponed due to Covid-19 cases at Newcastle)

SaturdayBurnley v Everton 12.30pm (BT Sport)Man City v Fulham 3pm (BT Sport)West Ham v Man Utd 5.30pm (Sky Sports)Chelsea v Leeds 8pm (Sky Sports)

SundayWest Brom v Crystal Palace 12pm (Sky Sports)Sheffield Utd v Leicester 2.15pm (Sky Sports)Tottenham v Arsenal 4.30pm (Sky Sports)Liverpool v Wolves 7.15pm (Amazon Prime Video)

MondayBrighton v Southampton 8pm (Sky Sports)