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1. KEPA ARRIZABALAGA (8.6)
Well, the winning streak is over but the clean sheet streak isn’t, and there is pretty much only one man (in a Chelsea shirt) we can thank for that!
Kepa has a positively ridiculous 12 saves in the last two games, which is both amazing (for him) and damning (for the rest of the team). Making the goalkeeper’s life a bit easier would be a swell strategy going forward that would surely help us maintain a consistent level of winning without asking him to repeatedly stand on his head. We’ve allowed twice as many shots as Manchester City, for example (44 vs. 22), even if on average they’ve been shots with a lower xG.
Kepa’s currently rolling at 2x the next best goalkeeper in the Premier League when it comes to post-shot xG vs. allowed goals (currently a +0.75/90), and that’s unlikely to be sustainable.
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2. CHRISTIAN PULISIC (7.4, sub)
The xG numbers may not show it, but Chelsea created a fair amount of good goalscoring opportunities, many of which came after Pulisic (and Chukwuemeka) made their entrances in the second half.
Graham Potter praised both for their contributions, and in Pulisic’s case, that now makes two consecutive appearances (one start, one sub) where he has made an impact, after not finding much joy earlier this season. With the likes of Sterling and especially Havertz not in great form, perhaps it’s Pulisic’s turn to spark the attack.
3. TREVOH CHALOBAH (7.0)
You know how I said that there was pretty much only one man we could thank for this clean sheet? That was actually not quite true, and not just because Trevoh’s a lucky charm.
vs. BRENTFORD (PL, A, D 0-0)
EXCEPTIONAL (9.0+): —
EXCELLENT (8.0-8.9): Arrizabalaga (8.6)
GOOD (7.0-7.9): Pulisic (7.4, sub), Chalobah (7.0)
AVERAGE (6.0-6.9): Kovačić (6.8, sub), Chukwuemeka (6.7, sub), Broja (6.6), Azpilicueta (6.6), Koulibaly (6.5), Jorginho (6.2), Loftus-Cheek (6.0), Aubameyang (6.0, sub)
POOR (5.0-5.9): Mount (5.9), Sterling (5.8, sub), Cucurella (5.7), Gallagher (5.1)
BAD (4.0-4.9): Havertz (4.5)
TERRIBLE (3.0-3.9): —
OVERALL
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