2 key passes, 8 ground duels and 7 long balls completed – Chelsea’s rejuvenated midfield cog shines despite draw

We’ve already written about Robert Sanchez’s good performance today against Everton, but some outfield players deserve credit too.

In particular we liked how Enzo Fernandez stood up to a physical Everton midfield and kept the ball moving in some dreadful conditions. He’s got better and better since being dropped, and today cemented him as vital even when he’s not scoring or assisting. Alongside the ever-impressive Moises Caicedo, he controlled the game in difficult circumstances.

Stats site SofaScore gave Fernandez a rating of 8/10, the highest of any player on the pitch. His passing was superb. He completed 82 of 91, including 2 key passes, 2 accurate crosses from 2 attempted, and 7 accurate long balls from 10 attempted.

He also created a big chance – something that was sorely lacking from both sides in a game that will not live long in the memory.

Sadly, like the rest of his team, Enzo failed to turn those positives into threat in the final third – even he had just 0.08 expected goals and 0.09 expected assists.

Defensively he continued his marked improvement of this season – he won 8 of 11 ground duels against a bruising Sean Dyche team, making 3 tackles in the process. Enzo Maresca has said he was happy with how the team played overall, and he will be especially delighted with his namesake’s showing.

You can see the full Chelsea ratings in the image embedded here:

Of course you can’t lean too heavily on SofaScore ratings – Jadon Sancho didn’t do much today, in our opinion, and yet he gets 7.3, while the far more threatening Pedro Neto gets a 6.7.

Meanwhile Cole Palmer gets a 7.2 after one of his quieter games this season, while Levi Colwill gets a 6.9 despite a very solid display at the back. Overall, it was a frustrating game but not a terrible performance, and on another day we could have won it.