Hakim Ziyech’s late goal earned Chelsea a hard-fought victory over Crystal Palace in the English Premier League. The Blues played their first league game after a four-week break after recently returning from their FIFA Club World Cup victory.
We’ve broken down all the key stats for you to digest, including;
* shot maps
* xT (expected threat)
* pass networks
* xG timelines * defensive duels
* average positions and much more!
We also try to answer some questions for you with the visuals;
Who made the most recoveries inside the opposition’s half for Crystal Palace? Which Chelsea player had the highest xG rate?
To navigate the stats gallery, simply click on the numbers to move through the pages.
At the end of the gallery, you’ll be able to download the full PDF stats report.
The home team started in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Michael Olise and Cheikhou Kouyate returning to the starting XI. Wilfried Zaha led the line for Palace.
The average position of the starting XI hints that Crystal Palace played in a 4-3-3 formation. Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha led the attack from the centre.
The Blues played in a very attacking formation and were playing without a natural right-back. Andreas Christensen played in the right-back position.
The Blues also played in a 4-3-3 formation. Jorginho played in front of the two centre-backs, and N’Golo Kante played in front of him, alongside Christian Pulisic.
Chelsea dominated possession and created more positional attacks than the opposition. Palace players were involved in a lot of defensive actions and had a high win percentage in defensive duels. The home team made more recoveries inside the opposition’s half.
Hakim Ziyech secured three points for the Blues in the dying minutes of the match. He attempted the most shots and dribbles in the match. The Blues committed more fouls on the pitch. Michael Olise had a high recovery rate in the opposition’s half and attempted the most dribbles for his side.
The home team attempted six shots but were unable to hit the target. Four of the six shots were attempted from inside the opposition’s penalty box.
Chelsea players attempted nine shots with a 33.33% shot accuracy rate. The goal was scored from inside the opposition’s 6-yard box.
The xT timeline shows that Chelsea created more threats than the opposition in the match. The graph shows that the Blues created continuous threats towards the end of the match. Crystal Palace attempted three shots each in both halves.
Joachim Andersen attempted the most passes for Crystal Palace. 12 out of his 51 passes were towards Nathaniel Clyne. Andersen was also on the receiving end of most of the passes.
Antonio Rudiger attempted 93 passes for the away side, and his 22 passes were towards Malang Sarr. The German international was on the receiving end of 80 passes.
Michael Olise was the only Crystal Palace player who attempted a smart pass in the match. Left-back Tyrick Mitchell attempted the most crosses for the home team, and his three passes landed inside the opposition’s 18-yard box.
Hakim Ziyech was Chelsea’s main man on the pitch. The right-sided attacking player attempted three smart passes and five crosses. Seven of his 39 passes landed inside the opposition’s penalty box.
The Eagles created threats from the wider sides, especially the left side. Michael Olise created the highest threats from 39 passes, and his five passes landed inside the opponent’s penalty box.
Wilfried Zaha attempted four dribbles and created the highest threat from dribbles for the home side. Michael Olise attempted seven dribbles but was unable to create enough threats.
The Blues were unable to create enough threats in the match. The above map shows that they created threats from the wider sides. Hakim Ziyech created the highest threat rate in terms of attacking players.
Hakim Ziyech’s nine dribbles created the highest threat rate from dribbles for Chelsea. He was supported by Kai Havertz, who attempted five dribbles and created the second-highest threat rate.
The Eagles won most of their defensive duels towards the left side. Tyrick Mitchell contested 14 duels and only lost two.
Crystal Palace players contested a few aerial duels. Midfielder James McArthur contested three duels with a 100% win rate.
Crystal Palace players won most of their loose ball duels in the middle third. Tyrick Mitchell and Joachim Andersen won all of their loose ball duels.
Jorginho contested the highest number of defensive duels for his side. He contested 11 duels but lost five of them.
Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger, and Romelu Lukaku won two aerial duels each for their team.
The Blues also won most of their loose ball duels in the middle third. Hakim Ziyech contested nine duels and lost three of them.
The Eagles won four corners and two each from both sides. Michael Olise was behind four corners and six free kicks. The home team won ten throw-ins towards the left side, and Mitchell was behind them.
Chelsea also won the same number of corners. Hakim Ziyech was behind Chelsea’s corners and mostly from the left side. The Blues only won one free-kick inside the opposition’s half.
Chelsea were unable to create many threats but eventually earned all three points in the match. They played in the league after a long gap but managed to seal the points.
If you want to download the stats report in PDF format you can do so here: Premier League Stats: Crystal Palace vs Chelsea