After Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace, we examine the player grades.
Kepa: 7 –
Helpless for the goal. He showed nifty footwork and exceptional long passing accuracy. Classy.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 5 –
He gave away possession on multiple occasions. He is functional at best on the ball.
Antonio Rudiger: 8 –
Quietly excellent defensively. His long passing is sublime.
David Luiz: 5 –
One mistake led to a chance at the end and his lack of pace was exposed for Palace’s goal. He has a tendency to commit to a challenge leaving space in behind.
Marcos Alonso: 7 –
He was good defensively and assured in possession. A nice outing. If he were a bit quicker he would be some player.
Jorginho: 8 –
Andros Townsend gave up man marking him fairly quickly. He makes the game look easy. Made pass after pass.
N’Golo Kante: 6 –
He is struggling in his new position. He does not contribute going forward.
Ross Barkley: 6 –
He popped up all over the pitch which is a positive. But he gave the ball away a lot.
Pedro: 8 –
Fantastic instinct and timing for making runs into goal-scoring positions. His anticipation of what happens next is excellent.
Willian: 5 –
The attack improved markedly after he was withdrawn. He did virtually nothing of note.
Alvaro Morata: 8 –
Top of the grades this week. Two excellently taken goals when he did not have time to think about it. He is still frustrating with other missed chances but you can see the confidence is growing.
