These stories are samples pulled from external media sources. They do not represent the views or position of Chelsea Football Club.

Ziyech shining

Chelsea star Hakim Ziyech remains top of the Sky Sports Premier League power rankings despite not featuring in the league last weekend.

Ziyech missed the Carabao Cup final through an injury he sustained in the Champions League tie with Lille, but scored on his last league appearance at Crystal Palace.

He is nearly 1,000 points ahead of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, who sits in second place.

‘Chelsea playmaker Hakim Ziyech has retained his place atop the Premier League form chart after registering his third goal in as many games in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace a week ago - with the Blues' weekend league fixture postponed due to the Carabao Cup final,’ the Sky Sports story states.

Hakim has 9,262 points to his name. Thiago Silva is the next Chelsea player on the list, who comes in 25th place with 5,592 points.

‘The Power Rankings are based on points awarded to players for 35 different statistics - from goals and assists, to blocks and tackles.

‘The standings take into account the number of points a player has earned up to the previous five matchdays of a season, with each previous game worth 20 per cent fewer points in incremental deductions.’

Luton defender supported Blues at Wembley

Luton Town’s Kal Naismith has revealed he was at Wembley last weekend to support Chelsea and several of our players in the Carabao Cup final.

Speaking to Luton Today, Naismith spoke of his relationships with Marcus Bettinelli, Reece James and coach Anthony Barry.

‘I know a couple of the boys at Chelsea and I went to support them, so I was a bit gutted they never got the winner,’ he said.

‘I would have liked to see them on the pitch celebrating after as I was with the families and I saw them disappointed but that is the heartache of cup finals.

‘Me and Marcus (Bettinelli, goalkeeper) lived together. He came to Accrington on loan when we were 20, 21, we lived together for a year and he’s been one of my best mates ever since.

‘Reece (James, full back), he was at Wigan with me recently and the other one was Anthony Barry who was my coach at Wigan who I still keep in close contact with.

‘I played against Reece last year, it was my first start for Luton and I played left wing-back and he was right-back so we matched up against each other,’ Naismith added.

‘I knew I was bang in trouble because left wing-back isn’t my best position and I knew who I was playing against so it was a tough game!’

Cole the latest pundit to laud Rudiger

Chelsea icon Joe Cole has heaped praise on Antonio Rudiger after Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.

The Blues kept our 40th clean sheet of the Thomas Tuchel reign at Wembley, with Rudiger a huge part of that.

‘It was an incredible game of football. For a 0-0, that was probably as good as a 0-0 as I’ve watched,’ Cole told Chelsea TV, quoted by Metro.

‘The quality on the pitch, even the quality of defending from both teams.

‘I thought Rudiger was outstanding. How he dealt with Mo Salah, who I think is the best player in the world at the moment,’ Cole said.

‘It’s not an end of a story like a Champions League or an FA Cup final.

‘This is part of the story of this season. We’ve won trophies already, we’re still going strong in the Champions League and the FA Cup.

‘Chelsea had three disallowed goals, at another time, it could have been different.’