5 players who have kept Chelsea in the title race over the festive period
Chelsea’s Premier League title challenge stepped up a gear over the festive period as they went an impressive four games unbeaten, with three wins in a row following on the back of a 0-0 draw at Arsenal.
All told, the Blues kept three clean sheets in those four games, with their sterling defensive work the bedrock for taking 10 points from an available 12, leaving them now sitting in third place in the table, two points off leaders Arsenal.
A team effort with plenty of squad rotation over the busy period it might have been, but who were the stand-out performers over that period? Here are Chelsea’s top five players over that four-game streak, ranked by Performance Score.
5. Gary Cahill
Centre-back Gary Cahill racked up a Performance Score of 84 after featuring in three of the games, sitting out only the win over Swansea.
He won at least 60% of his duels in every game he played in during that time, making eight defensive actions—incorporating blocks, interceptions and clearances—in the first two games and an impressive 10 against Southampton. Cahill’s passing accuracy also peaked at 91% against Liverpool, while two of the four chances he has created this season came over the festive period.