One real positive that may have gone under the radar for Chelsea at the weekend against Brighton was the return of a natural right-back to the starting side.
Malo Gusto had missed two Premier League games with an injury sustained before the international break, and this left Enzo Maresca a real problem when it came to his position.
Reece James is yet to make his first appearance of the season due to injury too, and the boss was forced to get creative when it came to selecting his side in their absence.
Wesley Fofana did a good job there against West Ham, however Axel Disasi failed to take his chance in the win over Bournemouth.
Gusto put in a strong display in the win over Brighton, and his numbers in general this season have put him in the upper echelons of Premier League full-backs.
Gusto excelling at defensive duels and forward passes
Two statistics in particular seem to be where he is shining the brightest though, with a graph from DataMB showing he outperforms all of his competitors as far as defensive duels and forward pass success rate goes.
The balance of both defensive and attacking stats is a showcase of just good he is at both sides of the game, with that being important in his role in Maresca’s system.
No timeframe for Reece James return
There is still no timeframe for a James return. Maresca even admitted that he didn’t know when his club captain would be back available to him.
In his absence though, the side has been led well by Enzo Fernandez, with Moises Caicedo also taking the armband when the Argentine has been off the field.
John Obi Mikel has tipped Caicedo to be a future captain of the club, with him stepping up to a whole new level already this season at Stamford Bridge so far.
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