Chelsea at Watford player ratings: Three ugly points away from home

Chelsea got back to winning ways as it defeated Watford 2-1 at the Vicarage Road in the Premier League. After a bad result last week against Manchester United, the Blues would have wanted to bounce back but had a bad start as the Hornets dominated them from the get-go. Unfortunately, the match was suspended in the 12′ due to a medical emergency in the crowd. After the restart, it was more of the same, but Chelsea took the lead against the run of play as Kai Havertz squared the ball for Mason Mount to make it 1-0.

Even after going a goal down, Watford didn’t back down and was rewarded for its efforts as Emmanuel Dennis equalized for the Hornets just before the halftime whistle. The team was not playing the way Thomas Tuchel wanted it to play, so the manager ringed in changes from the second half, taking off Saul Niguez for Thiago Silva. After a few more tactical tweaks, the Blues finally took the lead in the 72′ as Hakim Ziyech slotted in Mason Mount’s cross.

Here’s a look at how each Chelsea player fared in a lucky win against Watford:

Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 8.5/10

Edouard Mendy was one of the very few Chelsea players who had a good game. Throughout the game, the Senegalese goalkeeper had to make some very important saves to keep the Blues in the match. He had a few shaky and questionable moments with the ball at his feet, but without Mendy in goal, Chelsea might have lost the game.

Trevoh Chalobah (Right centerback): 6/10

Just like every other Chelsea player, Trevoh Chalobah had a very sloppy start to the game, giving away the ball and misplacing passes left and right. Throughout the first half, Chalobah had to be on his toes with the constant attacking threat from Watford. In the second half, with the introduction of Silva, Chalobah played in the midfield alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but couldn’t do much as he was forced to leave the field with a hamstring injury.

Andreas Christensen (Centerback): 6/10

Andreas Christensen was finally restored to the starting XI after an off-the-field contractual situation saw Tuchel drop him for the past few games. Having been picked in place of the Brazilian veteran, the Danish defender was caught flat-footed a few times, but other than that was quite impressive in the air.

Antonio Rudiger (Left centerback): 6/10

The German defender was sloppy from the start, making unnecessary long passes and misplacing quite a few passes, which put the other defenders under a lot of pressure. Antonio Rudiger’s long pass started the move which resulted in the opening goal, but other than that, Dennis was a pain for the defender throughout the game.

Thiago Silva (Centerback): 7/10

The Brazilian was introduced just before the start of the second half, replacing a struggling Saul. Just when Silva came on, Chelsea looked like a new team altogether, keeping the ball more carefully, keeping the game flowing and dealing with the attacking threat of the Hornets.