Everyone has seen Moises Caicedo’s talent at Chelsea, but it has not been the same case with Romeo Lavia.
Lavia and Caicedo both joined Chelsea at the same time, signing from Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively in 2023.
Unfortunately for the former, though, he has not had too many opportunities to play because of injuries.
Enzo Maresca wants to protect Lavia from picking up any more, and it would be great if he could. When the midfielder does manage to get on the pitch, he brings a lot to the table.
Romeo Lavia makes more interceptions than Moises Caicedo
Lavia’s biggest strength is probably receiving the ball on the edge of the box and then beating the opposition’s press. However, the 21-year-old is not bad at cutting out passes either.
According to FBref, Lavia makes 1.67 interceptions per 90 minutes (over the past year), which puts him in the 96th percentile among midfielders.
To put that into perspective, Caicedo makes 1.52 interceptions per 90 minutes and ranks in the 89th percentile.
From that alone, you can see why Maresca wants to protect Lavia so much. He is the kind of player that you want on the pitch, not in the stands.
The Italian does not have to worry about Caicedo’s fitness at least. He has not missed a Premier League game this season and was also an ever-present last term.
According to Jason Cundy, Caicedo is the most important player at Chelsea, even more important than Cole Palmer.
Moises Caicedo still the tackling king
There is one area where Lavia is no match for Caicedo and that area is tackles. Caicedo’s average per 90 is 3.02, while Lavia’s is 2.06.
At this moment in time, there is probably not a better tackler in the world than the Ecuadorian, who was a ball-winning machine in Chelsea’s 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday.
He regained possession twice for the Blues before setting up Joao Pedro’s winner.
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