Chelsea midfield and forward ratings: Count on Kante for everything

Willian, Right wing: 6

One big question when the Mount-less starting XI came out was who would take his place in the press. Willian was one option, pressing off the wing instead of straight up the middle as Mount does. But Willian tended to drop into the midfield line while his teammates were pressing, and at times this let the Blues settle into a 4-5-1 above their own box as they completed their transition to defence.

The lack of space and movement around Chelsea’s offence meant that Willian sometimes had no choice but to bring a sequence to an end and start a reset. This is frustrating because it reinforces the perception that he does a better job snuffing out Chelsea’s counter-attacks than the opponent, but when there’s nowhere to go there’s nowhere to go, and Willian at least can maintain possession long enough to start again.

Tammy Abraham, Striker: 5.5

Tammy Abraham did not receive much service, which means he did not have much involvement in the game. He dropped deep to try to pick up the ball in different positions to help Chelsea bring play out, but the overall lack of purpose in the Blues’ play out from the back limited what Abraham could hope to accomplish.

Christian Pulisic, Left wing: 5.5

When Chelsea were able to string together a quick forward foray towards Manchester City’s box, Christian Pulisic did his part. But with the team not doing that very often, Pulisic was not very involved for much of the game. He and Mason Mount are inseparable, for better or worse.

Michy Batshuayi, Striker (73′): 4

Michy Batshuayi was called offsides three times in under 20 minutes. The entirety of Manchester City was called offsides three times in the entire game. And these weren’t cleverly executed but infinitesimally mistimed runs off the shoulder of the defender. These were on goal kicks, where he could see Kepa Arrizabalaga stepping back and running up to take the kick, and still he allowed the defensive line to move forward without him, ending the play as soon as he touched the ball.

It’s hard enough for any striker to get minutes off of Tammy Abraham this season. Fundamentals like this may just be enough to bring Olivier Giroud off the bench.