Chelsea suffered an embarrassing 5-0 defeat away at London rivals Arsenal at the Emirates on Tuesday night, with former Champions League hero Kai Havertz coming back to haunt the Blues.
The German attacker found the net twice in the hammering, further adding to Mauricio Pochettino’s woes, with the club now sitting ninth in the Premier League and 19 points off the top four.
Ben White and Leandro Trossard also managed to get on the scoresheet, with Chelsea only managing one shot on target during the encounter.
One Blues player, in particular, had a particularly frustrating evening, failing to make any sort of positive impact during the defeat, with Pochettino needing to drop him ahead of the club’s next Premier League outing.
Conor Gallagher’s stats against Arsenal
After his ‘excellent’ performance against Manchester City in the FA Cup last weekend – as per The Standard’s Nizaar Kinsella – Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher failed to replicate his positive display against Mikel Arteta’s side last night.
During his 90 minutes on the pitch, the 24-year-old completed 88% of the passes he attempted, having 93 touches – the second most of any player in the squad – with only Benoit Badiashile having more, with 119.
However, that was as good as it got for Gallagher, with the Chelsea academy graduate only winning 33% of the 12 duels he contested and committing one foul.
He also lost possession 21 times, with the one-time Crystal Palace man losing the ball more than any other player within the Blues squad yesterday.
|
Gallagher’s stats against Arsenal |
|
|---|---|
|
Statistics |
Tally |
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
Touches |
93 |
|
Pass accuracy |
88% |
|
Duels won |
4/12 (33%) |
|
Possession lost |
21x |
|
Fouls |
1 |
|
Interceptions |
0 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
His dismal display saw him be awarded a 4/10 rating for his performance by the aforementioned Kinsella, as Gallagher was one of eight starters to receive a rating of below five.
One player missed the heavy defeat, but Pochettino simply must recall him ahead of the Aston Villa clash if they are to have any chance of returning to winning ways.
The man to replace Gallagher against Aston Villa
After missing the trip to the Emirates through illness, Pochettino will be crossing his fingers that top goalscorer Cole Palmer will be fit enough to feature in the trip to Villa Park this weekend.
The former Manchester City attacker has scored 20 goals and contributed nine assists in his 28 Premier League appearances this season, with Palmer currently sitting as joint-top scorer with Erling Haaland.
His absence last night was noticeable, with the Blues often looking toothless in front of goal and failing to threaten David Raya at any point during the encounter.
With Gallagher operating in a more advanced role behind Nicolas Jackson in recent matches, Poch must revert to allowing the 21-year-old to start in a similar role – causing havoc in his last outing in the number 10 berth against Everton, scoring on four occasions, including a perfect hat-trick.
His goal contributions have been pivotal to the Blues this season and, as seen last night, his absence massively restricts the side from creating golden chances in the final third, with every Chelsea fan hoping he can return in the huge outing against Unai Emery’s side in a couple of days.
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