Ben Chilwell said that he and Reece James are in competition to see who can finish higher in the Chelsea scoring ranks this term.
Speaking to Chelsea Mic’d Up, Chilwell explained the personal contest that is currently going on between himself and his fellow countryman.
James has taken an early lead in the race, with five goals already for the season.
This actually puts him level at the top of the charts alongside attacking trio Timo Werner, Romelu Lukaku and Mason Mount.
Chilwell is just a few strides behind on three, but will probably lose distance on the front pack over the next month or so.
The 24-year-old will likely not play again before 2022, due to the anterior cruciate ligament damage he suffered against Juventus last month.
Depending on the severity of the injury, the England international could miss the rest of the campaign.
On this basis, the in-house title should be handed over to James straight away.
Full-back vs full-back
Despite his unfortunate situation, Chilwell remained in good spirits, clearly with the thought of outscoring his club colleague spurring him on.
“This group this season has a real special feeling in the changing room,” said left full-back.
“Speaking about me and Reece, that chemistry we do have, because we are best friends off the pitch, but we’ve got that little bit of rivalry on the pitch.
“He will be happy to admit we talk about it all the time. You know, who’s going to end up with the most goals, assists.
“Obviously, our main aim is to defend but we have that little competition going on where we are trying to outdo each other to see who can get the most goals.”
Get a move on, Blues
Never mind the battle between James and Chilwell, the chase for Chelsea’s Golden Boot is an interesting one.
At the moment, nobody has been able to stick their neck out in front.
There have been 17 different scorers this campaign, with none yet to get over that five mark.
This theme of distributing the load has carried on from 2020/21.
Jorginho finished as the team’s highest Premier League scorer with seven, whilst Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner shared the overall title, having grabbed 12 goals each.
Lukaku was brought in for big bucks to solve this issue, but the Belgian has netted just once in the past ten matches.
Time for one Chelsea player to step on the accelerator and drive to individual goalscoring glory.
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