Chelsea boasts one of the most advanced data systems in global football, with their BlueCo ownership making significant advancements since acquiring the club in May 2022.

Back then, BlueCo estimated the club were 20 years behind their counterparts in other sports in the United States when it came to data analytics. 

Three years down the line, the scenario is vastly different: just last week, Chelsea was on the lookout for another performance data analyst to add to their expanding team of specialists. Among their experts are Sachin Gupta, the chief analytics officer, and Javier Fernandez, who heads data science and holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence.

They employ drones to capture training sessions, closely watch GPS vests, and customize training regimes. A television is regularly set up for players to explore performance data from recent matches, possibly sparking their competitive instincts if they notice other players’ stats surpassing theirs. Their focus is on innovation, information, and maintaining an advantage over the competition.

The goal is to aid Enzo Maresca’s first-team decision-making process, and for those of us who only manage to navigate our iPhones to use WhatsApp, there is a remarkable array of activities occurring behind the scenes at Cobham on a daily basis.

However, even these well-versed analysts find themselves navigating unknown waters this season. Despite having a wealth of data at their disposal, when Chelsea clinched the Club World Cup, they had no crystal ball to predict exactly how the victory would influence the current season’s performance.

There was a mere 25-day gap between Chelsea’s players raising the trophy alongside President Trump in the United States and being required to lace up for two pre-season matches within 48 hours. Just a week after that, the Premier League was underway.

Seven weeks in, Maresca is missing nine players, the most of any team in the Premier League, and seven of them are injured. For Saturday’s visit of Liverpool, he will not have (deep breath) Cole Palmer, Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, Andrey Santos, Liam Delap, Levi Colwill or Dario Essugo.

Trevoh Chalobah is also suspended after his red card against Brighton last weekend, and that’s before we get to Mykhailo Mudryk. It is understood Moises Caicedo, Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez have been continuing to play out of necessity, despite carrying minor issues.

They are the walking wounded; a squad ridiculed by outsiders for being bloated but one which insiders will tell you is stretched in reality. Joao Pedro even asked Maresca to leave him out of a line-up at Brentford a few weeks back. He started, as Chelsea had no other No 9, with Marc Guiu seemingly not trusted to lead the line by his head coach.

Having begun with some impressive displays, most notably at West Ham, the strain is starting to show, and Chelsea welcome the champions on Saturday on the back of a three-game winless run in the Premier League. So how do they manage their stars with two games a week and the busiest period of the year still a couple of months away? 

‘They’ll be taking a holistic approach and tracking a huge amount of data from the physical output of all of their players in games and in training,’ Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs, the world’s leading sports performance intelligence company, tells Daily Mail Sport.

‘They’ll be testing and assessing those athletes day-to-day from a medical and recovery perspective, which will include understanding how they’re sleeping; their biomechanics, the build-up of blood and hormonal markers and how their body is clearing any waste product from exercise; performing soft tissue work on athletes to understand how their muscles are doing and the build-up of any specific wear and tear; assessing their physical output to find out if there’s any degradation of performance; and speaking with athletes to understand how they feel and how their bodies are responding.’

Kitman have worked with multiple clubs worldwide, including Chelsea, and Smith continues: ‘Chelsea have done as good a job as you can do in their scenario. Obviously, it’s extremely challenging to come off an elongated season like theirs, have a short break, and then get straight back into the level of competitiveness that’s needed within the Premier League.’

Chelsea have used the most players in the Premier League this season, 24 in total. That is partly for rotation purposes but also enforced by their long list of absentees.

The Blues knew there could be a hangover from the Club World Cup and so built a squad that included two players per position. Jorrel Hato was signed to cover Marc Cucurella at left back, for example, but he has had to fill in as a centre back amid their injury crisis.

Hato’s versatility is one reason why Chelsea did not sign a new central defender despite Maresca’s plea following Colwill’s ACL injury – suffered in their very first training session back after the summer – as they felt there were no obvious upgrades available in the market compared to their in-house options. Daily Mail Sport understands that stance is unlikely to change in January unless their injury issues become so severe they are forced into a rethink.

‘They only have one ever-present player – Caicedo – whereas most other teams have at least two-to-four ever-present players in their starting XI (this season),’ Smith continues.

‘Chelsea are focusing on rotating their starting XI from game to game, to try to counter-balance the elongation of last season and any residual effects from the Club World Cup. It’s certainly challenging for them, but they’ve showcased a smart approach so far and it shows the level of effort and detail being put in by their backroom and coaching staff.’

Caicedo is Chelsea’s beating heart in the centre of the pitch. He starts every match that matters but it is to his credit that his body has resisted breaking down. Losing him would be devastating for Maresca with the Ecuadorian’s deputy, Essugo, unlikely to return before 2026 after having thigh surgery.

Chelsea have covered the least distance out of all the clubs in the Premier League this season. They have managed 616km collectively, the next-fewest being West Ham on 638.

That is not a slight on Maresca’s side. Their possession-based philosophy means they can spend less time chasing the ball than others. It could be a bonus that they are able to save energy, though Liverpool will arrive at Stamford Bridge boasting the Premier League’s best possession statistics at 64 per cent.

Chelsea are trying their best to get through a testing time but naturally, with the winter schedule coming up, there are underlying concerns that fatigue could kick in further. So, could their situation worsen closer to Christmas? ‘This is the first year that we’ve had the type of elongation we’ve seen from the Club World Cup in its new format, so we’ll have to wait and see how it shakes out,’ Smith says.

‘Traditionally in the Premier League we see a higher number of injuries in the opening weeks because players are acclimatising back into the demands of the game. We generally see that reduce back to a “normal” level following the first three, four weeks of the season.

‘Following that, historically, we have seen an increase in the number of injuries as we go through the winter schedule, presumably because of the amount of congestion during that period.

‘We then notice towards the end of the season another slight increase in the number of injuries, presumably due to the ongoing effects of the season, fatigue building up and the heightened competitive pressures at that point of the campaign.’