Stat Attack – Chelsea v AFC Bournemouth

Written by Matt Stevenson

Here is the xG from the Chelsea game, which was certainly a game of two halves. AFCB didn’t turn up in the first half, which could be due to a variety of reasons, and Chelsea were dominant. The Blues went ahead in the 12th minute, with Jackson breaking free from Zabarnyi and Cook, to play in Palmer, who had timed his run well and sold Travers a dummy before scoring (rated 56%, although the algorithm won’t be sophisticated enough to distinguish between fully standing up and sitting down keepers). Chelsea had all the chances with Jackson missing from close range in the 32nd minute (1 in 4) and Jackson again in the 43rd minute (1 in 2 for the initial header and 1 in 6 for the follow-up). In between, Kluivert had hit the post for AFCB (1 in 6) and immediately after Jackson hit the post for Chelsea (1 in 8). At the break, the xG was Chelsea 1.99, AFCB 0.16 and it felt fortunate that we were only 1 behind.

The second half was more even, In the 49th minute, Semenyo was brought down for a penalty which Kluivert duly scored (4 in 5). After this the game went quiet in terms of chances, although there was a VAR for a Brooks collision with Cucurella off the ball, payback for an earlier Cucurella collision off the ball, that I was amazed didn’t result in a red. In the 68th minute, Semenyo rocketed one past Sanchez from a wide angle to put AFCB 2-1 up (rated 1 in 40). The game again had no real big chances with AFCB holding firm, and creating a good chance for Kluivert in the 84th minute (1 in 7) which was blocked. In the 95th minute, Chelsea had a dangerous free-kick, and Christie was lucky not to have received a second yellow. James put it in the side netting of the area not protected by the wall, raising a debate over Travers’ positioning to equalise. (1 in 16). The final xG was Chelsea 2.50 AFCB 1.18; Understat had a similar size margin in favour of AFCB at 2.54 vs 1.15. It would have felt like a robbery if we had won, although we have been on the other side this season.

Man of the match against Chelsea

Semenyo

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Travers

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Kluivert

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Huijsen

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Someone else

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There were 2 changes to the team who beat Everton. Brooks came in for Evanilson (with Ouattara playing as centre forward) and Adams came in for Kluivert, presumably to unleash Kluivert against tired defenders having kept it tight. Kluivert was the only outfield player with experience on the bench which was largely made up of non-first team squad players.

The formation was more defensive than normal, with Zabarnyi (27) and Huijsen (2) much closer than they would normally be, with Cook (4), Christie (10) and Adams (12) forming a defensive shield in front of the back four, with the fullbacks Hill (23) and Kerkez (3) playing relatively high. On the TV it was noticeable that Adams (12) dropped into the left back position often, with Kerkez free to roam forward. In the 23rd minute, Hill was substituted due to an injury, with Kluivert (19) brought on, and Cook dropping to right back, with Christie replacing Cook and Kluivert playing in a more advanced central midfielder position. In the 83rd minute, Jebbison (21) replaced Brooks (7), with Ouattara moving to the right wing and Jebbison playing centre-forward.

Huijsen had the most touches, 66, in total. Adams had the most touches in the opposition half (31) and Kluivert and Semenyo both had 19 touches in the final third.

Huijsen attempted most passes with 51, Adams attempted most in the opposition’s half (27) whilst Brooks and Kluivert attempted most in the final third (8). We averaged 78% pass completion. Of the starting 11, Christie and Huijsen had completion of 85% or over.

AFCB players tried to take on a man 15 times being successful 5 times (Kluivert and Semenyo once each and Cook).

AFCB players were tackled 14 times with Semenyo being tackled 4 times.

AFCB attempted 12 crosses, being successful with 2 (Brooks and Ouattara).

AFCB had 21 touches in the opposition’s penalty area with Kluivert having 6. Chelsea had 33 touches in our penalty area.

AFCB created 6 chances (none big). Chelsea created 20 chances, 4 big.

We had 7 attempts (1 big – the penalty) noting that chances can be provided after saves, deflections or a defensive error and not created. We hit the target 3 times. Chelsea had 26 attempts, 5 big, and hit the target 10 times. Kluivert had 4 attempts.

AFCB won 11 of 26 aerials duals. Huijsen won 2 from 2.

AFCB won 16 of 30 tackles. Kerkez won 3 from 4.

Huijsen made most defensive actions with 18. Huijsen made 4 interception, Travers made most recoveries (8). Zabarnyi made most clearances (8) and Huijsen made 3 blocks.

The Opta expected goals had Kluivert highest (1.12) with no-one else above 0.05. For expected assists, Brooks was highest at 0.12.

The foul count was AFCB 16, Chelsea 15. Christie made the most fouls (5) with Brooks and Semenyo fouled the most (3).

According to Opta, Christie and Zabarnyi both made errors leading to a chance.

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