A toothless Chelsea fell to a 1-0 defeat against rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. An awful bit of defending from a corner allowed Gabriel to turn home a Saka corner from close range, in what proved to be a vital goal. Chelsea looked hopeless going forward, struggling to create any meaningful chances.
Chelsea ended the game recording their lowest amount of shots in the league this season.
Edouard Mendy- 7/10
In what was a terrible team performance, Mendy can walk away from the game knowing he was not to blame for the loss. He could do nothing about the goal, with both Havertz and Silva failing to clear a poor corner. Apart from some shaky distribution, he made some good saves, preventing the score line from looking even worse.
César Azpilicueta- 6/10
Fair play to Chelsea’s club captain. Going into the game it looked like he would struggle against the dangerous Martinelli, but the Spaniard actually handled him quite well in the game. His lack of offensive threat, however, was a big loss for the Blues.
Thiago Silva- 6/10
Two big errors cloud what was actually a very good game for Silva. The Brazilian lost the ball in a dangerous position which led to an Arsenal corner. From that corner Silva failed to clear the ball at the front post, resulting in Arsenal’s winner. Apart from those errors he played very well, controlling Chelsea’s defence.
Trevoh Chalobah- 6/10
Average is how you would probably describe Chalobah’s performance today. He played okay, didn’t make any big errors – other than a terrible headed clearance which could have resulted in an Arsenal goal. Also got a tactical yellow card after Cucurella lost possession.
Marc Cucurella- 4/10
A tenacious performance from Cucurella, but ultimately it was littered with errors. The Spaniard gave away several dangerous free kicks throughout the game. He also forced Chalobah to take a booking after he headed the ball straight into the path of Jesus. There were some positives, but these were definitely outweighed by the negatives.
Jorginho- 7/10
The only Chelsea player on the pitch who could walk off it with his head held high. Jorginho worked very hard defensively and made a number of good forward passes. The Italian was let down by his teammates today.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek- 4/10
Loftus-Cheek struggled to get a foothold in midfield today. A bad giveaway led to a very dangerous Arsenal attack, and defensively the Englishman always seemed two steps behind the pace of the game.
Mason Mount- 4/10
One part of a very toothless Chelsea attack. Mount was hardly involved going forward, posing no threat to the Arsenal goal. Some very poor passing highlighted a disappointing performance.
Kai Havertz- 3/10
What a dreadful day for Kai Havertz, who could not do anything right. He was the most involved attacker for the Blues, but his final ball was off every time. Often too slow on the ball or failed to find the right pass.
Raheem Sterling- 3/10
Another performance where Sterling posed little threat to the opposition’s goal. He played a few good passes down the right wing in the first half, but his performance faded in the second 45. He failed to take a single shot all game.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang- 2/10
A ghost-like performance from the former Arsenal striker. He got a yellow card early in the game, but other than that, he hardly seemed involved in the match, only managing eight touches before his substitution.
Subs
Armando Broja- 6/10
Perhaps surprisingly, Broja actually got a good amount of time on the pitch coming off the bench. Unfortunately, he struggled to have much impact. He did have one good moment, showing great feet to get into the box and send in a dangerous cross, which, unfortunately, no one could meet.
Connor Gallagher- 5/10
A disappointing cameo from Gallagher, who struggled to have much of an impact when he came on. A silly foul and subsequent yellow card summed up his cameo.
Christian Pulisic- N/A
Mateo Kovačić- N/A
Graham Potter- 4/10
A hugely disappointing performance from Chelsea and Potter today. The side are currently struggling with a lot of injuries, but the side put out should have done better today. Chelsea struggled to create any chances, and Arsenal were the better team in every department. The decision to not play Kovačić, or even bring him on early on, left Chelsea’s midfield second best.
