Sarri says Chelsea defence still needs work

Maurizio Sarri insists Chelsea remain a work in progress despite their unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign.

Chelsea travel to Newcastle United today aiming to make it three wins from their opening three fixtures, having already seen off both Huddersfield Town and Arsenal in their first two matches.

Having voiced concerns about how quickly his new players would adapt to his methods, Sarri’s problems right now appear to revolve around who to leave out of his line-up.

Nevertheless, he saw enough in the Community Shield defeat by Manchester City and last weekend’s narrow home victory against Arsenal to confirm his view that, defensively, there is still work to be done.

Against the Gunners, it took a late winner from left-back Marcos Alonso to secure a 3-2 victory after Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi had cancelled out Chelsea’s early two-goal lead.

And while Newcastle might not have the firepower to threaten Chelsea in the way City and Arsenal did, Sarri knows his hopes of steering the club back into the top four will not be helped by a leaky backline.

Sarri, 59, said Chelsea’s defence was not still up to speed when he explained the ongoing absence of Gary Cahill, insisting it was harder for defenders to adjust to his methods than more attack-minded players.

“I think that, in this moment, for a defender it’s more difficult to play in my team after only 20 days of training,” Sarri said. “I am not worried about the defensive phase because, when I arrive at a new team, usually I have problems with the defensive phase for two or three months. So I think it’s normal for me.”

Sarri insisted a back-four was crucial to his plans to introduce the approach dubbed “Sarri-ball” at former club Napoli to England.

“I am not able to play with five defenders, because we are trying to defend by looking only at the ball,” he said.

“In this way, if I defend with five defenders, I lose immediately metres on the pitch. I am not able. I tried five years ago, but it’s not my way.”

Meanwhile, Newcastle will be without defender Isaac Hayden as he starts a three-match ban after being sent off in a goalless draw away to Cardiff City last Saturday.

Kenedy, who missed a penalty in that match, will also be absent as the 22-year-old Brazilian loan signing from Chelsea is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Many Newcastle fans remain frustrated by owner Mike Ashley’s refusal to let Rafa Benitez spend heavily in the transfer window.

But the manager urged supporters to back the team rather than protest against the owner once they were inside St James’ Park.

“What I would say is just be sure that when you go to the stadium, you support the team because it’s the only way for us to be stronger,” Benitez said.

Also in action on Sunday are Watford whose bright start to the new campaign sees them host Crystal Palace looking for a third win in as many games.

Fulham host Burnley at Craven Cottage in the day’s other match.