Chelsea player ratings vs. Watford: Jorginho and Kovacic at the centre of it all

Willian, Right wing / attacking midfield: 7

Willian’s return to the lineup gave Chelsea the purposeful ball retention they lacked against Manchester United midweek. Willian did not do much different from his usual performances, and that’s a good place to be.

Willian started favouring his left leg around the hour mark, reaching down towards it after a hard sprint up field. For whatever reason, Lampard kept him on. Towards the end of regulation he slowed down dramatically before going to ground as the play continued on without him. His teammates compounded the pressure they were facing by not clearing the ball out so Chelsea could bring Willian off. By trying to take the ball into the Watford zone and launch a partial counter-attack they left themselves defending with 10 men for several minutes.

Mason Mount, Attacking midfield: 7.5

Something we’ll have to find a way to look at during the international break is the shooting patterns of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham and, by extension, anyone else we can find from the academy.

Mount and Abraham both seem to have a large portion of their shots be on target, but they also have a lot of their shots saved. Do they aim for the meaty centre of the goal, giving themselves a better chance of a shot on goal at the cost of a better chance of having it saved? They rarely send a ball wide or into the upper deck, but despite getting in great positions and taking excellent shots, they both – Mount especially – seems to have a lot of shots saved.

Mount kept Chelsea’s and Watford’s lines open for his teammates. His pressing forces the opponent to lose their shape simply to get out of their zone, and this puts the Blues in a strong position as they transition to defend and then come right back on the attack.

Christian Pulisic, Left wing / attacking midfield: 7.5

Christian Pulisic is currently Exhibit A for how well Frank Lampard knows how to progress a new player into his team.

Pulisic is much more integrated into the team’s rhythm and better able to bring his individual talents to the team’s movement now than in his early starts in the season. He is following the play to its conclusion, which resulted in him being able to sweep in the cross from Tammy Abraham for what became the winning goal. Chelsea now have quite a battle among three wingers for two spots.

Tammy Abraham, Striker: 8

Tammy Abraham had 25 touches, from which he produced one goal, three other shots and one assist. He nearly scored a second goal minutes after his first, and kept Watford’s centrebacks on their heels the entire game. His movement towards the outside of the penalty area is perfect for an inside forward like Christian Pulisic or Mason Mount. If there’s one thing Abraham could learn from his rarely-seen teammate Olivier Giroud, it’s how to stretch defences as a striker to create space for your wingers and attacking midfielders to score.

If Abraham can add “facilitated goals” to those he scores himself or assists, Chelsea will be as hard to defend against as those two teams above them.