Chelsea are currently placed at the top of the 2021-22 Premier League standings with 26 points from their 11 games. They are three points clear of Man City and West Ham United, who are in second and third respectively, and are four points clear of fourth-placed Liverpool. The Blues have proven themselves to be the best defensive unit in the league, along with being one of the best of the attacking sides. They have conceded just four goals so far, with Manchester City the only other team to concede less than 10 goals, with six.
The Blues have had the fourth-highest xG generation in the league with an xG of 19.37, which they have highly over-achieved by scoring 27 times. They have also scored 27 goals, only less than Liverpool, who have scored 31. The Blues have had 15 different goal scorers in the league and 17 in all competitions and are also currently second in their UEFA Champions League group.
In their Champions League game against Malmo at Stamford Bridge which they won 4-0, both centre-forwards, Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner, picked up injuries. Since then, Thomas Tuchel has used Kai Havertz as his number nine in all the games and has shifted between Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech, and Callum Hudson-Odoi along with Havertz. Thomas Tuchel has also been using his full-backs to full effect, with Reece James being his top scorer with four goals, while Chillwel has scored three, with Alonso scoring one as well. In this post, we will have a look at the stats of various players playing for Thomas Tuchel at the moment, including Reece James, Mason Mount, and Kai Havertz.
The above viz shows the attacking and creativity dashboard for Chelsea’s right wing-back, Reece James. James has been one of the best attacking players in the league and has scored the most goals in the league for Chelsea with four. He has also provided three assists, and his seven goals contributions are the most by any defender in the league. The black line in the above viz shows the average for the particular stat for all defenders in the Premier League. It is visible that the 21-year-old is better than average in almost all stats and is the best in terms of goals and shots taken.
Mason Mount was Chelsea’s player of the 20-21 season but did not have the greatest of starts to the 21-22 season. He was on a kind of goal drought but came back on the scoresheet in style when he scored a hat-trick against Norwich City. His attacking and creativity dashboard in the viz clearly shows that he is much better than the average in almost all of the stats above. The 22-year-old midfielder is considered to be one of the most talented players in England and has a very bright future at his boyhood club Chelsea, where he’s been since he was six.
Havertz has taken up the role of the centre-forward for the Blues in the absence of both Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner. He has started every game since their injury and has been playing as a false nine in the same role in which he played in the 20-21 UCL final. Havertz has scored twice in the league and once in the Carabao Cup, and he has been great at inking up play, being the focal point of the attack. He has taken very few shots so far, as visible from his shot map, and has scored all three goals this season from headers. He has shown his aerial ability and has been effective in scoring as well as defending from corners.
Chelsea have not been playing the greatest of football recently, but have still been able to get results in their favor, as they hold on to their three-point lead at the top of the table. They have been scoring freely despite the absence of both strikers, and have been getting goals from all different players this season. The Blues, under Thomas Tuchel, have been getting better and better, and with the return of both his strikers around the corner, he will expect his team to score many more goals in the coming weeks.
