At one stage this Premier League season, Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea looked like genuine title challengers hot on the heels of Liverpool.
Now, however, the Blues look shaky gripping onto fourth spot in the unforgiving league, with an unwelcome eighth defeat of the season greeting them come full-time away at Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
Cole Palmer’s complete absence from the squad did make Chelsea’s task of picking up a win on the road a lot harder, but there were still far too many underperformers that let the team down on the day, regardless of the England international sitting the contest out.
Chelsea's biggest underperformers vs Arsenal
Starting in goal, current number one Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez had a particularly shaky time of things on Sunday afternoon.
Before Mikel Merino gifted the hosts a 1-0 lead, Sanchez’s rash play out from the back nearly resulted in Gabriel Martinelli firing home, with the 27-year-old inexplicably kicking it straight to the Brazilian forward.
He arguably could have done better too when Arsenal’s man of the moment looped this header over Sanchez, but there were other underperformers who also struggled at the Emirates away from the ex-Brighton and Hove Albion ‘keeper in isolation.
Indeed, both Jadon Sancho and Christopher Nkunku offered very little down the flanks as the pair failed to muster up a single on-target effort, further reinforcing Palmer’s absence.
But, there was another attacker away from the out-of-sorts duo that struggled to leave his mark on the contest, having tallied up fewer touches than Sanchez across the course of his forgettable 90 minutes.
Maresca must forget 35-touch Chelsea dud after Arsenal
Not many players from a Chelsea perspective trudged off the Emirates turf happy with their individual efforts, with Maresca branding the overall showing as “frustrating” at the close of the game.
That would be an apt word to describe Pedro Neto’s away day too, with the ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker showing bursts of quality here and there, only to then fall flat for the visitors at the final moment. Handed a 5/10 player rating by the Sun, they suggested he was ‘always up against it as a false 9’ but was far too easily ‘outmuscled by Arsenal’s defenders’.
Minutes played
90
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
35
Accurate passes
15/17 (88%)
Shots on goal
3
On-target shots
0
Possession lost
12x
Successful dribbles
0/2
Accurate crosses
1/6
Total duels won
1/7
The table above makes for some pretty grim reading from Neto’s point of view, with his accumulation of 35 touches coming in at six fewer than Sanchez’s at 41, with no successful dribbles and no shots on target not exactly causing the Gunners’ defence much bother when he ventured forward.
Moreover, just one accurate cross being tallied up all game shows how poor the former Wolves’ man end product was in North London, on top of just one duel being won showing off his lack of fight whenever he became a passenger to the play unfolding.
Whilst he does boast five goals and six assists in all competitions this season away from this no-show at Arsenal, Maresca could now axe Neto as his lone striker option for contests to follow even as Nicolas Jackson remains sidelined.
The ex-Leicester City boss might well fancy throwing Nkunku into this role instead having got seven goals out of the Frenchman up top this campaign, or Cole Palmer would surely be a worthy option as a false 9 once he’s fit again.
Despite some positives falling into Maresca’s lap this campaign, his side still find themselves short of being an elite team in the top flight, with more defeats piling up down the line potentially damaging their ongoing top-four chances.
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