The Premier League and the UEFA competitions postponement has provided us a good time to look back at Chelsea’s season so far.
Under Frank Lampard, the Blues have managed to stay in the top four since October. Although the 34-point gap between Chelsea and Premier League leaders Liverpool seems far from ideal, top-four finish and qualifying for the Champions League next season have been the main objective for this transition period.
Having to rely upon some young players who are just experiencing their first regular season in the Premier League, Lampard’s Chelsea have been suffering from inconsistency. In addition to that, the recent injuries also forced the Chelsea manager to alter his plan which leads to seemingly ever-changing line-ups.
Some individuals, however, have been a dependable force for Lampard.
Let’s take a look at Chelsea’s key statistics leaders in the Premier League this season (data from Whoscored):
- Goals: Tammy Abraham (13)
- Assists: Willian (5)
- Shots: Tammy Abraham (73 — ranked eighth in the league)
- Passes: Jorginho (1861 — ranked seventh in the league)
- Key passes: Willian (51 — ranked ninth in the league)
- Accurate crosses: Willian (33 — ranked 13th in the league)
- Successful Dribbles: Mateo Kovacic (69 — ranked fifth in the league)
- Headers won: Kurt Zouma (87 — ranked 23rd in the league)
- Tackles: Cesar Azpilicueta (64 — ranked 16th in the league)
- Interceptions: Jorginho (57 — ranked eighth in the league)
- Saves: Kepa Arrizabalaga (41 — ranked 21 in the league)
These statistics do not illustrate the complete picture and it must be taken into account that those with more minutes have the advantage as the data shows total numbers instead of per-game basis. However, it can offer some insight into the team’s performance in general.
Interesting takeaways
Willian has been Chelsea’s main creative outlet. A recent report claimed Lampard has been pushing the club to seal the 31-year-old’s extension and his numbers help to explain why. The incoming Hakim Ziyech might be a good replacement (or even improvement) for the right-wing position, but Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic’s injury history could be a good reason to keep the Brazilian beyond summer.
Despite his unpopularity among some Chelsea fans, Jorginho has been the centre of Chelsea’s buildup. He has also proven his critics wrong with his defensive outputs. In addition to his impressive interceptions numbers, he also made 58 successful tackles this season which is second highest at Chelsea (24th in the league).
Tammy Abraham is donning Chelsea’s number nine shirt in style. He has been Chelsea’s main goalscoring threat and his recent injury has been a tough blow for Lampard, despite Olivier Giroud’s good performances in Tammy’s absence. However, Tammy still has a way to go in becoming the clinical striker Chelsea would hope for. He has missed 17 big chances this season which is the third-highest in the league.