Thiago Silva concern
Having taken an early lead through Mason Mount, the expectation was Chelsea would go on and complete a comfortable victory over Aston Villa and put more pressure on Steven Gerrard. That didn’t happen – not initially – as the home side rallied and put Graham Potter’s side under immense pressure.
Villa were able to exploit the space between the wide Chelsea central defenders and the wing-backs. Marc Cucurella struggled on the left of the back three while Raheem Sterling, deployed nominally as a right wing-back, offered little defensive support to Trevoh Chalobah in his battle with Ollie Watkins and John McGinn.
The calm among the first-half storm remained Silva. The Brazilian mopped up crucially on one occasion to bail out Cucurella and was constantly issuing instructions to those around him and in front of him as Chelsea attempted to stem the tide of Villa pressure.
READ MORE Every word Graham Potter said on Aston Villa vs Chelsea, Kepa, James, Silva concern, Mount, more
That Chelsea went into the interval ahead was largely down to Kepa Arrizabalaga’s reflexes and unsurprisingly, Potter changed things at the break, introducing Cesar Azpilicueta and Kaiidou Koulibaly and shifting to a more orthodox back three shape. It paid off, with the Blues able to find more control and Mount eventually firing home a second goal.
Silva grabbed an 'assist' to the academy graduate’s wonderful strike. As Mount lined up his free-kick 25 yards from goal, it was the 38-year-old who shifted the attacking wall of Azpilicueta and Jorginho into place in order to block the view of Emiliano Martinez, who was bamboozled by the flight of the ball as it sailed over his left shoulder.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the perfect afternoon for Silva, who went down late on with a hamstring issue that Potter stated after the 2-0 victory would need to be assessed ahead of the midweek Premier League clash against west London neighbours Brentford.
“He is at the highest level you can think of as a character and as a man,” Potter said when asked about Silva’s importance during his post-match press conference.
“How he leads the team, how he is playing, he has made some really important and blocks and interceptions. He has that know-how that you can’t put a price on. He felt a little tightness in his hamstring so we’ll see how he recovers for Wednesday but apart from that, he is a top person.”
Mount rediscovers his spark
The early weeks of the campaign were not easy for Mount. The two-time Chelsea Player of the Year struggled for form and was left out of the starting XI for the home victory over West Ham United by Tuchel, under whom the academy graduate had been a mainstay in the side.
However, the arrival of Potter has reinvigorated Mount. Not only has he been used more as a midfielder – the position the 23-year-old wants to play – but his output has sharply increased. Against Wolverhampton Wanderers, there were two assists. Against AC Milan in San Siro, there were two assists. And yesterday at Villa Park, Mount opened his account for the campaign.
His first goal of the season was a controlled volley into the corner after a mistake from Tyrone Mings. His second was the perfect knuckleball free-kick. It was no surprise that Mount was named man of the match by host broadcaster Sky Sports come full time.
“He works so hard for the team, always,” said Potter. “He’s got the quality, got the ability to score and assist. Sometimes players go through little dips if the team isn’t functioning that well and maybe the team didn’t function as well as it maybe can and as a result individuals don’t play to the level.
“But the effort has always been there from my perspective and once he can get in the spaces we want to get into he has got the quality to execute and you saw that today."
Kepa cements his spot
Had things worked out a little differently in the summer, Kepa would no longer be a Chelsea player. The Spaniard was allowed to speak to clubs across Europe over a move away from Stamford Bridge but no transfer – either permanently or loan – materialised.
"He checked his options [in the summer] which we were aware of," former Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel admitted prior to his departure last month. "They were not satisfying for him or for us, so he stayed. I am very happy about that.”
Kepa stayed on at Chelsea and remained the club’s second-choice goalkeeper. Patience was once again required, with only an injury to Edouard Mendy likely to result in an extended run in the first team for the 28-year-old. But then came the Blues’ Champions League trip to Dinamo Zagreb.
Mendy’s form had notably dipped in the early weeks of the campaign and a knee tendon issue suffered by the Senegal international opened the door for Kepa. Tuchel brought him into the side for the match in Croatia; it proved to be the German coach’s last in charge and Chelsea suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat.
Kepa produced one impressive stop and was not culpable for the home side’s goal. Still, there remained a feeling even after the arrival of Potter that the Spain international was keeping the number-one spot warm for Mendy. Again, things quickly changed.
Mendy’s injury proved worse than initially thought and he was also absent for Potter’s first game at the helm. Kepa started once more – and he has done so in the five matches that have followed under the English coach despite Mendy, the undisputed first choice since arriving from Rennes in the 2020 summer transfer window, returning to full fitness.
Potter has been vindicated in his decision. Kepa has kept four clean sheet in six matches; the latest of which he was directly responsible for. At Villa Park yesterday, the Spaniard produced a string of fine saves in the opening period to keep Chelsea ahead in the contest.
The best came from Danny Ings. A cross into the Chelsea penalty area found the Aston Villa striker unmarked and six yards from goal. All that was required was a clean contact from the striker and he got it, his header powerful and directed toward the roof of the Chelsea net. But somehow, Kepa was able to react quickly enough to not only stop the ball but also push it over the crossbar.
It was an outstanding stop and one that proved Kepa – still the world’s most expensive goalkeeping following his £71.6million move from Atletico Madrid – is very much back to his best. He is the Chelsea first-choice goalkeeper on merit and now it’s Mendy who will have to bide his time and wait for an opportunity to usurp him.
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