Chelsea kept their unbeaten November form going in both the Premier League and Champions League with a straightforward 2-0 victory away at Burnley on Saturday lunchtime.
Pedro Neto picked up his sixth goal contribution of the league season when handing the travelling Blues the 1-0 lead, before Enzo Fernandez made sure of all three points late on when he gobbled up a chance on the 88th minute that was all Marc Guiu’s making from off the bench.
Away from the goalscorers mentioned, Andrey Santos also stood out in the midfield ranks, with Enzo Maresca no doubt ready to select the 21-year-old more often, off the back of such an assured showing at Turf Moor.
Santos' performance in numbers
The number 17 was thrown into the starting XI in Lancashire, with Moises Caicedo rested back in Premier League action, after lining up for Ecuador deep into the international break.
Thankfully, Caicedo’s absence wasn’t felt whatsoever, as Santos’ individual showing was described as “outstanding” at the full-time whistle by former Stamford Bridge great Joe Cole.
Indeed, the 21-year-old came into the side and looked right at home in Caicedo’s midfield anchor role, winning seven duels and two tackles to really boost the Blues centrally when Burnley attempted to work openings.
On top of that, Santos looked assured and comfortable on the ball, too, without ever really looking flashy with 34 passes accurately registered.
While Maresca will take plenty away from Santos’ polished showing, with one Chelsea content creator stating that he was “everywhere”, he did need the likes of Neto to come up trumps with a moment of quality in attack to seal the win, away from the Brazilian, allowing the visitors to tick.
While Santos has previously showcased an eye for goal and demonstrated his qualities as a box-crashing 8, he’s not the only Blues star evoking memories of Stamford Bridge royalty in Frank Lampard.
Chelsea star could be Maresca's Lampard
Come the end of his illustrious Premier League career, Lampard would bag 177 top-flight goals, with the former Blues captain having a great habit of sneaking into the box and finishing off chances expertly.
Romelu Lukaku would even hail Lampard as an “unbelievable” finisher of chances when reminiscing about his brief time in the Chelsea first team alongside the modern great.
In the here and now, the aforementioned Fernandez also has a similarly impactful knack to be able to finish off chances, with Guiu playing a late pass into a dangerous space up against Burnley, knowing that his captain could be there to kill the game off.
After all, that’s amazingly Fernandez’s fourth Premier League goal of the season already, meaning the World Cup-winning star is now Chelsea’s joint-top goalscorer in league action for the season with Neto, which is an accolade Lampard would regularly claim during his celebrated stay in West London.
Yet, there is far more to both the Argentine’s game and Lampard’s game away from scoring big goals, with pundit Micah Richards going out of his way to hail the £107 man as having “everything” in his locker now to be a “leader” at Chelsea earlier in the season.
Games played
11
Goals scored
4
Assists
1
Touches*
70.7
Accurate passes*
46.5 (85%)
Shots*
2.2
Big chances missed
4
Key passes*
1.8
Big chances created
4
Ball recoveries*
3.9
Total duels won*
3.9
The table above very much backs up Richards’ assessment of Fernandez being a complete midfield talent worthy of wearing Chelsea’s club armband, with an energy present in his game that matches that of Santos, with 3.9 ball recoveries averaged and 3.9 duels won per game this season in league action.
However, it is his ability to fashion chances galore and score plentiful goals that really does make that comparison to Lampard even stronger, with Fernandez beating the likes of Cole Palmer to the top prize when it comes to most goal contributions tallied up for the Blues over the last year, as the 24-year-old now sits on a weighty 21 goal contributions, next to the Englishman’s 15.
Fernandez also has a taste for silverware now, too, having lifted the Club World Cup in the summer, as he strives to lift Premier League titles like those before him, with Santos also wanting to mature into a consistent first-team star next to him.
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