Chelsea travel to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium to face Antonio Conte’s Spurs as the Blues desperately look for three points. The Blues have been winless in February with their last win coming on 15th January against Crystal Palace. Pressure is piling on Graham Potter and he must deliver now.
CFC has signed eight additional players in the last transfer window, some of whom will arrive in the next summer. Potter’s Blues currently sit 10th in the league with no sure answer as to where the next win is coming from. Potter rested some players for the Southampton game, and many attributed the loss to that fact.
Potter, fans, players, and everyone else knows that the upcoming game is extremely important, and doubly so because of the situation the Blues are in. With many injury returnees including Wesley Fofana and Raheem Sterling, here are three players that must start against Antonio Conte’s men.
3 Chelsea players who must start vs Tottenham
Benoit Badiashile (No. 4) centerback, France
Chelsea has been putting up poor defensive numbers except goals conceded throughout the season, conceding 1.38 expected goals against (xGA) since Potter took over up until the game before Badiashile first played.
However since Benoit Badiashile came in, Chelsea has allowed a 0.92 xGA on average in the five games the Frenchman has played. In addition to this, Chelsea allowed 1.8 big chances per game across the 12 games Potter oversaw without Badiashile on the pitch, since the addition of the former Monaco man, Chelsea has allowed 0.6 big chances per game.
Badiashile has been a key part of Chelsea’s newfound defensive solidity, as Badiashile has brought some key improvements to Chelsea’s play. His passing is superb, leading all defenders in accuracy of long balls (65%) and averaging the most passes per game (78.6) as well as the highest percentage of complete passes of all Chelsea’s defenders (91.4%).
Badiashile has also been more dominant than other Chelsea defenders since he’s come in, winning far more aerials per game than any other defender (4.2) and at a far higher rate than anyone else except Ben Chilwell (72%). He also averages a higher duel success rate (on the ground or in the air), than any other defender at the club except Thiago Silva. Badiashile has brought several things to the side that the Blues needed and cannot replace or get elsewhere.
Enzo Fernandez (No. 5) Central midfielder, Argentina
Enzo Fernandez has been very good for Chelsea since he came in. Standing as the outright British transfer record, he has not looked underwhelming so far, and while it is just three games, he has equally added various things to Chelsea’s midfield that the Blues lost with the sale of Jorginho.
Fernandez has also brought superb passing in midfield, but he offers a different skillset from Jorginho. Fernandez has had to try to play Jorginho’s role, and he has done it to the best of his ability. He leads the team in completed long balls per game (6), and also leads the team in tackles won per game.
He gets involved in so many duels so he also loses so many tackles, getting dribbled past the most per game (2.5). His passing and tackling would be crucial in the Tottenham game. Fernandez is a must start for Chelsea whenever he’s fit, as he looks like the Blues’ most reliable midfielder since he came in.
Hakim Ziyech (No. 22) Right Winger, Morocco
This may be a surprising pick though it shouldn’t be. Chelsea’s best games this season under Potter has been with Hakim Ziyech on the pitch. The Crystal Palace home game, the Liverpool away game, and the Borussia Dortmund away game saw the Blues create chances for fun while been generally defensively solid. Ziyech played a significant part in this.
In the Crystal Palace game, Chelsea created four big chances, the most they’ve created under Potter. In that game Ziyech recorded 7 Shot-Creating Actions (SCAs), nine progressive passes, four progressive carries and 4/6 completed dribbles ranking first in all those metrics. He also created two chances, including a clear cut chance.
In the Liverpool game, Chelsea, again, created four clear cut chances, taking 11 shots at an average of 0.15 xG per shot which is quite high regarding the xG/shot stat. Ziyech, again, ranked first for expected assisted goals (xAG), progressive passes, SCAs, progressive carries, and created two big chances in that game.
He replicated many of those things against Borussia Dortmund, this time ranking second in most of them including progressive passes (8) and progressive carries (5), though ranking first in SCAs (7) and completing 2/2 dribbles. He also created the best chance of the Fulham home game, despite not having a great game himself.
It was one of two big chances the Blues got in that game. In a game of this magnitude, Potter needs someone disciplined enough to press when necessary, help the team flow in the final third and create high quality chances himself out of nowhere. That is Ziyech, as he has consistently done in several games for Chelsea in recent weeks.
Which other players should start for CFC?