The Blues had to settle for a point against Burnley despite almost complete domination at Stamford Bridge and here we take a closer look at the key match statistics and talking points…
Thomas Tuchel’s side registered 25 shots at goal against the Clarets but had just a solitary Kai Havertz goal to show for our efforts in the final Premier League clash before the international break.
At the other end, Matej Vydra found the net late on for Sean Dyche’s men to ensure they left London and headed back north to Lancashire with a share of the spoils.
The point means we remain top of the table, three points clear of Manchester City in second, while third-placed Liverpool and fourth-placed West Ham meet later today (Sunday). A win for Liverpool will see them move to within a point of us, while the Hammers will be three points behind us should they be victorious.
One-way traffic
As mentioned at the top of this page, Chelsea registered a mammoth 25 shots at goal. Unfortunately, Nick Pope’s net was only breached once through Havertz’s powerful header.
The 25 goal attempts were the most we had recorded without winning a Premier League home game since 2015, when we were defeated 2-1 by Crystal Palace despite registering 26 efforts on goal.
Despite the goals not flowing today, Thomas Tuchel praised the performance of his players and it’s important that the words of the boss are listened to as we head into the international break and not get disheartened.
The Blues are guaranteed to be at the summit of the Premier League table when we resume in two weeks’ time against Leicester at the King Power Stadium.
On another day, we could have been talking about a healthy Chelsea victory with good opportunities spurned from Callum Hudson-Odoi, Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva and Ross Barkley just to name a few.
Reece having an impact
With a game-high of 101 touches, it’s fair to say that Reece James is having a huge influence on Chelsea games right now.
The right wing-back put in another fine display, impressing with his defensive duties and offensively, and the highlight of his performance was, without doubt, the fine assist he laid on for Havertz’s first-half header.
Picking the ball up wide on the right, Reece touch a perfect touch out of his feet before opening his body and delivering a whipped cross that was screaming out to be headed home. Kai answered those calls and duly delivered.
There was almost a repeat performance in the second period, with James again delivering a fine cross from the right but this time Thiago Silva’s header clipped the outside of the post rather than the inside of the woodwork.
But with his assist for Havertz, James has now recorded seven goal involvements in the Premier League this season – four goals, three assists – more than any other Chelsea team-mate. In fact, only Mo Salah, Michail Antonio and Jamie Vardy have recorded more.
Ross takes his chance
After spending last season away from the club and seeing his squad number changed in the summer, Ross Barkley has arguably had the toughest challenge to overcome this campaign.
However the Liverpudlian has caught the eye of Tuchel with his performances in training and his impressive attitude, earning chances in both the Premier League and in Europe and staking a claim for a regular spot in the side.
The midfielder has had big impacts from the bench already this season, most notably in our home victory over Southampton and our away win at Newcastle, and Tuchel rewarded Barkley with his first league start for the Blues since July 2020.
Barkley looked bright, playing in a central role as opposed to the right forward position he was in deployed in at St James’ Park, and went close to scoring with a dipping effort in the first half that whistled just past the post.
Ross made a game-high five key passes against the Clarets and completed 82 per cent of his total passes. He also won two aerial duels, highlighting his commitment to the cause defensively too.
The midfielder was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek with just over 15 minutes remaining, with the only downside that Barkley fired over from close range with his final involvement of the game. On this showing, it won’t be long before the next opportunity presents itself to him.