Alan Shearer was left really impressed by Chelsea player Antonio Rudiger on Saturday because he opted to pick him in his Premier League Team of the Week.
Rudiger, 28, caught the eye on the weekend with a display at Anfield.
Thomas Tuchel’s side, who played the entire second half with a man less after Reece James’ red card, managed to come away with a point.
The Blues defended superbly in the second period to maintain the 1-1 scoreline, so they enter the international break after an unbeaten start to the new season.
Germany international Rudiger put in the kind of tenacious defensive performance that Chelsea fans have become accustomed to seeing from him under manager Tuchel.
The aggressive centre-half defends on the front foot, with pundit Shearer picking out his aerial strength as a real positive of his.
“Tough in the tackle, strong in the air and showed good recovery pace as Chelsea defended as if their lives depended on it at Anfield,” Shearer said.
Also, he named Blues teammate Andreas Christensen in his Team of the Week segment after his Liverpool display.
“Stood firm all game particularly in the second half when down to 10 men,” Shearer said.
Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku is the individual at Stamford Bridge that probably ranks as the best in the air, but the team has plenty of physical options to rival him.
Rudiger, along with the likes of Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta, are all decent options in the air. The weekend goalscorer Kai Havertz also showed his ability with his glancing header against Liverpool.
Chelsea withstood Liverpool pressure with a man less for 45 minutes and it’s a testament to how defensively organised they’ve become under Tuchel.
Despite selling Kurt Zouma to West Ham this summer, the Blues still have so many quality options at the back that simply love defending and will usually eat up crosses into the box.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Twitter account here.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
