West Ham 1-1 Chelsea: 3 positives and 3 negatives

The reliability of Badiashile-Silva partnership

They are world class defenders. Thiago Silva has been consistent since he came into the side, but the addition of Benoit Badiashile has proven decisive so far. Badiashile has been solid, especially in the air. So far he has won four aerial duels per game at an 80% rate. His passing has also been outrageously good, making three progressive passes against West Ham. In the four matches he has played for Chelsea, he has averaged 81 passes per game at a 91% completion rate. He has also completed 3.8 long balls at an impressive 58% success rate.

Negatives

Graham Potter’s team selection

To be somewhat fair to Potter, he got it right for the most part, but Noni Madueke should not have started over Hakim Ziyech. Ziyech has started four consecutive games before the West Ham match and he had created at least one clear-cut chance in each of those games, in fact creating two in the Liverpool game alone. CFC lacks players that consistently create chances, but Ziyech is of the few players that is actually good at it. With five big chances created, Ziyech leads all Chelsea players in the Premier League except Conor Gallagher, who has also created five.