Chelsea at Aston Villa player ratings: Tottenham to thank, not players

In the final game of the season, Chelsea was looking for a win in order to solidify top four and good form. However, the win didn’t happen, top four was achieved and form dropped drastically.

Here is how each player performed in the crushing loss against Aston Villa:

Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 6/10

Difficult to be harsh on Edouard Mendy, despite conceding a goal. The Chelsea keeper had good positioning when called upon. Despite Aston Villa’s goal, which was practically unstoppable, Mendy did all in his power to ease the minds of the Chelsea players. Then, an injury forced him off and Thomas Tuchel was forced to bring in Kepa Arrizabalaga. Now, the injury is not a factor on the rating, but the fact that he let a goal in. Just because a goal is practically unstoppable, it doesn’t mean it cannot be stopped. In that instance, his movement could have been a fraction of a second faster in order to deny Villa. Hopefully Mendy’s injury is not serious as the team needs him for the Champions League final.

Reece James (Right centerback): 4/10

While James is often praised for his calm and collective mentality, he showed too much of it on Sunday. For majority of the match, James played as a defender where he covered a lot of ground, but in the first half, Villa’s attack was coming from his side. Too often he was too casual at closing down the space or making a decisive tackle. However, this may be because a right centerback position is not his forte. It is strange not to see him in the right wingback role, where he uses his speed, strength and crossing capabilities to help the team. Nevertheless, he needs to improve for the big night if he wants to make any impact defensively.

Thiago Silva (Centerback): 6/10

Another defender who did everything right. The only reason he isn’t getting a defender’s perfect score is because Chelsea did not win the match. Thiago Silva, since his arrival, has been outstanding at the back. Positioning, ability to read the game, challenges and leadership to command are everything the Blues were in need of—Sunday was no different. With Aston Villa looking to play on the counterattack, Silva had to organize and command his teammates. A task he accomplished as Villa posed virtually no threat to the Blues’ goal, as seen by the xG.

Antonio Rudiger (Left centerback): 6/10

Not much went wrong for the German defender. Antonio Rudiger covered a lot of space, particularly where the danger was coming from. His partnership with Silva was as solid as one would expect. This type of form was hard to imagine at the beginning of the season, but here we are, with Rudiger putting great performances each week. Although Chelsea conceded two goals, none of those were Rudiger’s fault. In fact, if he would have made the tackle that cost the penalty, surely that outcome would have been prevented.

Kepa Arrizabalaga (Goalkeeper): 6/10

Yes, he conceded a goal from the spot, but that hardly counts. Kepa Arrizabalaga came on as a substitute for Mendy and did a good job at maintaining the score. Until, of course, the penalty. Which, to be fair, he cannot be blamed for. That aside, Arrizabalaga was alert in the few times he was called upon and didn’t make any mistakes.