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Chelsea player ratings vs. Burnley: Beginning an unbeaten run

By Hridyam Arora

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 31: Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea celebrates after scoring their side's first goal past Nick Pope of Burnley during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Burnley at Stamford Bridge on January 31, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Andrew Couldridge - Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 31: Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea celebrates after scoring their side's first goal past Nick Pope of Burnley during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Burnley at Stamford Bridge on January 31, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Andrew Couldridge - Pool/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 31: Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea celebrates after scoring their side’s first goal past Nick Pope of Burnley during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Burnley at Stamford Bridge on January 31, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Andrew Couldridge – Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 31: Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea celebrates after scoring their side’s first goal past Nick Pope of Burnley during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Burnley at Stamford Bridge on January 31, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Andrew Couldridge – Pool/Getty Images) /

Thomas Tuchel has overseen his first win as Chelsea boss as the Blues comfortably defeated Burnley 2-0 on Sunday at the Stamford Bridge. Two great goals—one from captain Cesar Azpilicueta and one from Marcos Alonso—ensured that Tuchel’s second game in the dugout ended in victory. It was a pretty good performance from Chelsea, some words that I haven’t said in a long time. The Blues dominated the ball, cleared out any sort of danger from Burnley, who registered only one shot in total, that too towards the end of the game. Edouard Mendy didn’t have a lot to do because Chelsea was so dominant, and the back line did a great job of making sure that there’s no harm done in set pieces, counter attacks, etc.

The team performed well overall, but how did the players do individually in Tuchel’s first win?

Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 5/10

Here we go, again. Mendy had absolutely nothing to do instead of latching on to the ball a couple of times and making some sweet passes. Chelsea’s defense made sure that the French international wasn’t tested on Sunday. As mentioned before, Burnley didn’t register a single shot on target the whole game, so really, what can he do?

Cesar Azpilicueta (Centreback): 8/10

Azpilicueta had a great game against Burnley. He was a great presence on the right side of Chelsea’s three-man defense, and he didn’t disappoint. On the defensive end, he held his own whenever he needed to, and like in the game against Wolves, was in a bit more advanced position compared to other centrebacks. This ensured Callum Hudson Odoi could really stretch Burnley’s defense. Going forward, little as that may be, Azpilicueta did the job. He bagged the first goal in the Thomas Tuchel era. He made an absolutely fantastic overlapping run from deep—covering at least 80 metres. Then, he received the ball from Hudson-Odoi (who else?) and struck the ball hard into the top left corner. A great performance from the captain.

Thiago Silva (Centreback): 7/10

The Brazilian veteran was once again placed in the middle of the defense, and he once again did his job near-perfectly. Silva was very aggressive in defense, and I mean that in a good way. He was always winning his duels, going for the ball before anyone wearing maroon. The veteran centerback blocked everything, cleared everything, basically did everything he needed to in order to make Mendy feel bored in goal. Nice distribution as well—great performance.

Antonio Rudiger (Centreback): 7/10

Another great performance from Rudiger. He did pretty well in defense, like his counterparts, but what I liked most from him was his intent to take risks. The German went for long balls many times, either a cross-field switch to Hudson-Odoi, or a pass to Marcos Alonso. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t—well, it mostly did. All in all, his distribution was excellent today. The German didn’t hesitate in taking a couple of shots either.

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