Graham Potter’s Chelsea: Where will Hakim Ziyech play?

Ziyech has shown signs of being the guy that can be the solution to the Blues‘ attacking issues, however, he has never been in the starting lineup long enough for fans to find out if he indeed can be that guy. Whatever you think about him, he clearly has the best creation instincts: he recorded the fewest passes between key passes (16.1) in the 2020/21 league season and ranked second for fewest passes between big chances (91.3) for the Blues.

Last season, the wideman ranked third for fewest passes between key passes (18.1) but ranked first for fewest passes between big chances (60.3) for the Blues in the league. For context, Kevin De Bruyne created a big chance every 73.2 passes and Trent Alexander-Arnold created one every 111 passes. This shows that Ziyech created more frequently than them, who where should he play under Graham Potter?

Against RB Salzburg in Potter’s first ever Champions League game, Ziyech came in for eight minutes and occupied the fight flank a lot. After the game, Potter pointed out that he was playing a back three and Sterling was at left wingback. This indicates that Ziyech was likely playing a corresponding role at right wingback when he was on the pitch. This is likely where Ziyech will play, and that may be a better use of his skill set than at central attacking midfielder.