1. THIBAUT COURTOIS | 7.6 |
Minutes played82
Touches45
Distribution36/40
Saves3
Courtois did not keep a clean sheet in this one, but there was very little he could do about Robbie Brady's free kick (got a fingertip to it, even) and he did make an excellent save on Matt Lowton towards the end of the first half, which, given how well Burnley defended the rest of the way and how uninspired Chelsea were in trying to break them down, would've likely been a winning goal for the hosts.
It is perhaps a testament to how well the defense have been playing since the switch to 3-4-3 — three consecutive games without a clean sheet notwithstanding — that this is only Courtois's second Man of the Match this season (the first one was at Sunderland where he preserved all three points with the last-minute save on Van Aanholt).
One thing to note also is Thibaut's excellent distribution/short passing percentage in this one.
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2. N'GOLO KANTÉ | 7.4 |
Minutes played90
Touches92
Passes69/77
Tackles5
Clearances3/3
Block+REC+INTs8
Second straight second place finish in the Player Ratings votes for N'Golo and his 11th appearance in the top three, which is good for second-most on the team behind Diego Costa who has 18.
Earlier in the week, Kanté talked about the "invisible" training that he does to help him produce visible performances such as this one. Granted, dominating a midfield of Barton & Westwood should be an expected outcome, but credit should still be given when the expected is accomplished with this much ease.
The only shame is that Chelsea didn't stick with the plan and instead started bypassing any meaningful midfield action more and more as the game wore on.
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3. PEDRO | 7.1 |
Minutes played85
Touches66
Passes44/54
Shots1*/2
Take-ons2/3
As the only player to test (and beat) Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton in the entire game, Pedro just barely edges out César Azpilicueta (and his ridiculous total of 136 touches) for the third spot on the podium. (Eden Hazard had Chelsea's only other shot on target, but it was a tame effort.)
Pedro has now scored more goals this season than all of last season, and in 13 fewer appearances, too. He needs just one more goal to return to his regular double-digit expected seasonal scoring output form.
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STARTERS:
Courtois (7.6), Cahill (6.5), David Luiz (7.0), Azpilicueta (7.1), Alonso (6.3), Matić (5.4), Kanté (7.4), Moses (6.6), Hazard (6.5), Costa (5.6), Pedro (7.1)
SUBS:
Fàbregas (6.5), Willian (5.9), Batshuayi (5.7)