Benoit Badiashile is fully fit again, and Enzo Maresca took advantage of that in Chelsea’s Champions League clash against Benfica on Tuesday night.
The Chelsea manager handed Badiashile a start, which was his first of the season.
The Frenchman came in for Jorrel Hato, who was unfortunate to be dropped. While the Blues lost in the end, Hato was still excellent against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend.
It meant Badiashile had to have a solid game against Benfica to have a chance of keeping his spot in the team for Saturday’s huge Premier League fixture versus Liverpool.
Benoit Badiashile was one of Chelsea’s standout performers against Benfica
Looking at his stats, it would be fair to say that Badiashile did put in a solid performance against Jose Mourinho‘s men.
According to Sofascore, the central defender made seven defensive actions. Only two players, Trevoh Chalobah (nine) and Moises Caicedo (10), managed to record more.
His passing was not bad either. In total, Badiashile attempted 99 passes, completing 95 of them. It saw him finish the game with an impressive 96% pass success rate.
| Benoit Badiashile’s stats vs Benfica | Total |
| Minutes | 81 |
| Clearances | 3 |
| Interceptions | 2 |
| Tackles | 2 |
| Dribbled past | 0 |
| Ground duels (won) | 3 (2) |
| Touches | 107 |
| Accurate passes | 95/99 (96%) |
| Long balls (accurate) | 4 (3) |
Enzo Maresca needs his defenders to be comfortable on the ball so that the team can play out from the back. Therefore, the above is quite promising.
It is why Levi Colwill’s injury has been so devastating, as the England international is excellent in possession.
With Badiashile now feeling better, Maresca will be hoping that he can continue to fill in for the injured Colwill.
Benoit Badiashile could now replace Jorrel Hato for Liverpool game
Hato is another option for the left centre-back position or the central centre-back position when Chelsea are in possession of the ball.
However, while he did play in central defence against Brighton, Chelsea view Hato as a left-back and want him to provide cover for Marc Cucurella.
Considering that and Badiashile’s bright display in the Benfica victory, Hato could be left on the bench for the Liverpool game this weekend.
Whoever Maresca puts out will face a tough test, with Arne Slot able to unleash Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike against Chelsea.
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