Chelsea have conceded more goals than any other Premier League side through five matches of the new season, and the numbers behind Xabi Alonso’s defensive crisis make for genuinely startling reading.
Chelsea have shipped 12 goals in their opening five league fixtures. Two in their opening Premier League game vs Fulham, three against Brighton, two against Arsenal and newly promoted Hull City and, most alarmingly, three unreplied goals in the defeat at Brentford last time out.
No side in the division has conceded more, and Chelsea have now gone 21 consecutive Premier League matches without a single clean sheet. Alonso has become only the sixth manager in Premier League history to see his side concede at least twice in each of his first five matches in the competition.
Captain Levi Colwill did not mince his words after the Brentford defeat, admitting Chelsea have been “bullied” inside their own penalty area, while Alonso himself has already acknowledged that his side need to become “tighter” and “more balanced.”
The good news is the problems appear identifiable rather than mysterious, and the extended international break gives Alonso a rare window to address them before Chelsea return to action against Bournemouth on October 10.
Sort Out The Set-Piece Chaos
The single most fixable issue is also the most damning. Five of Chelsea’s 12 goals conceded this season have arrived directly from set-piece situations, a striking number for a club that spent the summer specifically recruiting to solve this exact weakness.
Chelsea’s defensive stats so far this season.
[via @SkySports] pic.twitter.com/snUS126dd5
— Simon Phillips (@siphillipssport) September 22, 2026
Chelsea brought in Austin MacPhee from Aston Villa as a dedicated set-piece coach, replacing Bernardo Cueva, precisely because dead-ball defending is supposed to be one of the most coachable, organisation-dependent parts of the game but things have gotten worse.
Chelsea have failed to convert chances from corners and they are conceding a lot from set-pieces
When a team is repeatedly beaten from corners and free-kicks at this rate, it points squarely at marking assignments and defensive shape rather than misfortune. Fixing it should, in theory, be one of the more straightforward jobs on Alonso’s list, and it is squarely MacPhee’s brief to solve over the coming weeks.
Find Defensive Consistency Amid The Chopping And Changing
Chelsea’s back line has rarely looked settled through the opening weeks, with Alonso still searching for his preferred central defensive partnership and shape while integrating a squad reshaped by a busy transfer window.
Prioritising a settled back four or back three, depending on Alonso’s system of choice, across the calmer fixtures ahead of Bournemouth and beyond would go a long way toward re-establishing the kind of understanding that prevents individual errors from compounding into three-goal collapses.
Despite spending BIG on their defence in recent years, Chelsea have conceded the most goals (12) in the Premier League this season 🫣📉 pic.twitter.com/OZH13I7HuU
— LiveScore (@livescore) September 19, 2026
Alonso’s attacking approach has produced genuine excitement, with Chelsea scoring freely in the opening weeks of the season, but that same expansive style has periodically left gaps in transition. Finding the right balance between pressing high, committing men forward, and retaining defensive control will be central to Alonso’s medium-term project.
Use The International Break Wisely
Perhaps the simplest advantage Alonso now has is time. Two weeks without competitive fixtures gives his coaching staff a genuine opportunity to review the opening five matches in detail, work through shape and marking issues on the training ground without matchday pressure, and reset heading into the run of fixtures that follows.
Given how loudly the alarm bells have rung in September, how Chelsea look defensively against Bournemouth will say plenty about whether the early lessons have actually been learned.
