Chelsea spirit similar to Leicester´s title winners – Chilwell

Chelsea possess a similar spirit to Leicester City during their title-winning Premier League campaign in 2015-16, according to Ben Chilwell.

Frank Lampard’s side have not suffered defeat in their past 17 games – excepting an EFL Cup exit at the hands of Tottenham on penalties – and sat two points off top in the Premier League going into the weekend.

Jurgen Klopp, the manager of reigning champions Liverpool, previously tipped Chelsea as the favourites to lift the trophy, but Lampard has been keen to steer clear of such talk.

Chilwell, 23, was a fringe member of the Leicester squad that completed a shock championship triumph four years ago and feels a similar atmosphere among the players at Stamford Bridge.

“We’re not looking that far ahead. What I’m finding quite interesting is the confidence of the group,” Chilwell told The Guardian.

“There doesn’t seem to be any drop-off at any stage and hopefully that will continue for the rest of the season because we have a great squad. The positive thing is we don’t get carried away.

“When we won the league with Leicester in 2016, when I was fortunate enough to be in the squad at 18 or 19 years old, what I found was that the boys were going into every game confident they were going to win. At the moment with Chelsea that’s what the group feels like.

“When we go into matches we feel like we can’t really lose at the moment, which is a great thing to have as long as you work hard with it.

“I knew the expectations are to win titles and trophies. That’s the reason I wanted to come. I’m 23 years old and it was important to come to a club where hopefully I can win stuff.

“The manager makes sure the standards don’t slip. We all see how hard he works and it rubs off on us.”

Spirits were high at Cobham today! @BenChilwell @masonmount_10 @tammyabraham pic.twitter.com/RbfyL8kUAt

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 22, 2020

Chilwell’s role at left-back means he is relied upon to get the ball into the box, something Chelsea have proved adept at this season.

The Blues have been successful with 36 of their 138 crosses in open play, with their 26.1 per cent accuracy the best in the Premier League.

Chilwell has found a team-mate with six of his 18 open-play deliveries (33.3 per cent), with only Jamal Lewis (47.8 per cent) and Tariq Lamptey (34.5 per cent) more precise among players who have attempted more than 15 crosses.

Right-back Reece James is only 25 per cent accurate but has sent in more successful crosses in open play (14) than any other player in the top flight this season.

“I knew how good Reece was before I came here but I just wanted to say how much he’s surprised me,” Chilwell said.

“He’s a brilliant player. He’s powerful but quick with it. He’s very difficult to play against because of how physical he likes to be against his opponents.”