Chelsea is one of the most fascinating teams in the Premier League. They have a remarkable season one year and then take a U-turn and have a mediocre one the following year. The 2021-22 season belonged to the latter category as the blues barely clinched top 4 towards the end of the campaign.
Thomas Tuchel’s men are under transition once again after losing key players, and Roman Abramovich. Under the new owner- Todd Boehly’s leadership, the West London side will once again want to be a powerhouse in the Premier League.
With exciting new signings already made, some more to come, it is encouraging for us managers in taking Chelsea players as a serious proposition ahead of the FPL 2022/23 season. This blog will discuss the potential starting eleven, the opening fixtures, best FPL options from Chelsea ahead of the new campaign.
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Chelsea FPL 2021-22 Review
It was a rather disappointing season for almost all Chelsea players as far as FPL is concerned. Their two best FPL assets, Reece James and Ben Chilwell missed large chunks of the season through injury. However, despite playing a mere 1863 minutes, James was the second highest scoring defender from Chelsea.
Meanwhile, in the midfield, it was Mason Mount who stole the show for the Blues. Then Englishman scored more FPL points than any of his current teammates last season. The newly positioned forward, Kai Havertz shone for a few weeks in the season, and ended up being the second-best attacking option through the course of last season, after Mount.
All in all, managers were left scratching their heads last season whether or not to pick Chelsea players in FPL. There is hope, however, that this season will bring more consistency from their assets after signing big names like Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Chelsea fixture analysis
The blues have a tricky start to the new season. Thomas Tuchel’s men kickstart the new campaign at the home of their bogey club, Everton. They also face Spurs, West Ham, and Liverpool within the first 8 weeks of the season. However, after that, until GW 12 the going gets a little easier.
One good thing for Chelsea is that all the aforementioned mentioned tricky games, post-GW 1, are at Stamford Bridge. This coupled with the arrivals of two world-class players means that the blues have the potential to deliver FPL points in the opening weeks of the season.
Chelsea Formation/Tactics
The blues have been going with a 3-5-2/ 3-4-3 formation since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel. However, there has been a suggestion that there could be a shift to a back 4 this campaign. That, though, would depend on the new signings they make.
In the most recent pre-season match, Chelsea did go in with 3 at the back. According to us, that is the way they are likely to take the field, at least at the start of the season. Chelsea’s system relies on patient build-up from the back and penetration through their two wing backs. Jorginho and Silva are the key players as far as the build-up is concerned.
As usual, it will be Eduoard Mendy in goal for the Londoners. With the likely departure of captain Azpilicueta, it might well be Nathaniel Chalobah who starts as one of the center backs alongside Thiago Silva and new signing- Kalidou Koulibaly. As mentioned earlier, James and Chilwell will provide the width from wing-back from the right and left side, respectively.
Meanwhile, in midfield, as usual, it will be two of Kante, Jorginho, and Kovacic. Having said that, with Kovacic starting pre-season a little late, Jorginho and Kante might get the nod in the initial games. Conor Gallagher will be a backup, should anything happen to the main three.
As far as the front three are concerned, it is very easy to predict who would begin. Mason Mount and new signing Raheem Sterling will play either side of the new FPL forward, Kai Havertz, who will play as a false 9. The likes of Pulisic, Werner, and Hudson-Odoi will provide cover to the starting front-men.
Chelsea Predicted Lineup for 2022/23 Season
Chelsea Transfer Window
The new ownership have had to work their socks off already, as the departures of key players along with a few aging players have created holes in the squad. As mentioned earlier, the blues have signed two high-profile players already. However, there could be many more exits and entries before the close of the transfer window. Below is an overview of their transfer activity thus far.
INCOMING:
- Raheem Sterling (£10.0) – Midfielder
- Kalidou Koulibaly (£5.5) – Defender
OUTGOING:
- Antonio Rudiger – Defender
- Andreas Christensen – Defender
- Romelu Lukaku – Forward
A Little bit more on all the Chelsea new signings here Along with new signings of all the 20 PL Clubs in one place.
Best Chelsea FPL Players
Eduoard Mendy – £5.0, Goalkeeper (8/10)
Let’s get one thing out of the way immediately. It is a harsh decision to price Mendy at £5.0 this season. Players in other positions have had mediocre seasons and have pretty much been priced the same the following season. Anyways, this cheap pricing means that FPL managers have a goalkeeper to keep for the whole season without hesitation.
Chelsea were a bit unlucky last season, with injuries and odd games, such as the Brentford encounter. Throughout last season, the blues’ defense was among the best in the league. To put it in numbers, Chelsea’s NPxGA (34.8) was second only to Manchester City (28.7) last season. Furthermore, the blues were the third best in the league for goals conceded, with 33.
The usual strategy for FPL managers is to go in with two goalkeepers, each at a price of £4.5. However, with Mendy costing £5.0, it will be a smart idea to go in with the Chelsea shot-stopper alongside a £4.0 goalkeeper.
Chelsea’s defense has been bolstered by the arrival of Kalidou Koulibaly. The Senegalese international is one of the best defenders in world football, and in all honesty, an upgrade on Antonio Rudiger. Furthermore, with last season’s injury hitters, Kante, James, and Chilwell getting back to full fitness, Tuchel would be heading into the new season with his strongest eleven. That in itself makes the team stronger, thereby making Chelsea’s defense even harder to breach.
Further Read: Best FPL Goalkeepers at each price point for 2022/23 Season
Reece James -£6.0, Defender (9.5/10)
Arguably, the best asset from Chelsea, Reece James is priced conveniently for FPL managers this season. We believe that he is a must-have in each one of your squads. The Englishman got 141 points in FPL last season, the 9th best in the league among defenders. But he barely played 60 % of the season.
As we can see from the above graphic, James is second best, after his teammate, Chilwell, as far as Minutes played per point registered in FPL last season. This clearly shows that when he was in the starting eleven, he was explosive. With Raheem Sterling joining Chelsea, there might be more assists to come for Reece James, with the former Manchester City man tapping in at the far post from crosses.
Reece James- Crunching Numbers
- 5 goals and 9 assists
- 14 attacking returns joint highest with Robertson and Trent
- More goals than any defender
- Highest %xGI among defenders across the league
Further Read: Best Premium FPL Defenders (£6.0+) for the 2022/23 FPL Season
Ben Chilwell – £6.0, Defender (6/10)
Much like his compatriot, Ben Chilwell had an injury-hit season last time out. He barely played over 6% of the season. However, in the time that he played, he made a huge impact on the pitch. He registered 3 goals and an assist, keeping 4 clean sheets in the 6 matches that he played.
As we can see from the graph in the previous section, Chilwell tops the list in FPL among defenders as far as minutes played per point scored is concerned. His 9.84 minutes per point scored is way better than the second place Reece James. The catch over here, though, is that the sample space is too small.
The Chelsea left wingback also tops the charts for shots in the box per 90, xG per 90, and points per 90, among defenders. He is second only to Doherty, for big chances per 90 last season. With the arrival of Sterling, Chilwell might get more space to get himself into the box, thereby increasing his chances of scoring goals.
Wondering why we have rated him 6/10 despite waxing lyrical about him? Well, that is because of his injury. We have seen in the past players struggling post serious injuries, particularly knee injuries. Chelsea themselves has had two victims in recent times. One, Michael Essien and dare we say, N’golo Kante. Indeed, the Frenchman hasn’t been the same player since his knee injury.
Therefore, we are a little skeptical going into the season, about Chilwell. Having said that, if he shows good signs at the start of the campaign, it will be a no-brainer to bring him into your teams.
Further Read: Talisman Theory – 2021/22 Report | Who Got The Assist(WGTA)
Mason Mount – £8.0, Midfielder (9/10)
First things first, we can’t believe that Mason Mount is priced just at £8.0. The Chelsea man was the seventh highest scorer among midfielders, with 169 points. He registered 11 goals and 11 assists in FPL last season, also securing 16 bonus points along the way.
The above graph shows the minutes per attacking return of Mason Mount in the past three campaigns. In the 2021-22 season, he registered an attacking return every 107 minutes, more than twice better than his previous two seasons. This further proves, how the Englishman single-handedly carried Chelsea into third place.
The arrival of Raheem Sterling means that the onus is not just on Mount anymore. This might go two ways. He might have a dip in performance, especially if he is the type of player who only thrives on responsibility. The other option, which we believe is more likely to happen, is to perform even better as the new signing will take a little bit of pressure off Mount’s shoulders.
Mason Mount- Key Stats
- Topped the charts for BCC, goals, assists, shots, and %xGI among his compatriots
- Scored the winner in Chelsea’s only win in pre-season thus far
- Joint fifth best for assists in the league
Further Read: FPL Fixture Swing Analysis & Best Player Rotation for 22/23 FPL Season
Raheem Sterling – £10.0, Midfielder (7/10)
Okay, so we have already mentioned Raheem Sterling’s name plenty of times in the blog. It is now time to talk about him in detail. First things first, it baffles us that he is being talked about as a Manchester City reject. He is and has been a world-class player for many years and has the potential to be a game-changing addition to the Chelsea squad.
Alright, enough opinions. Let us talk facts. Sterling has amassed 78 goals and 54 assists in FPL in the last five seasons. That is a total of 132 goal involvements.
Sterling has been among the elite performers in the league in the past five seasons. That is despite him being sidelined often by Pep Guardiola in the past two seasons. Despite that, Sterling was the joint sixth best for big chances in the league last season.
Sterling was at his best for Manchester City when he was the star player of that team when he was Pep’s go-to player. That is what he will be at Chelsea this season. He will be the leader for this young squad and will be the player the Blues will look toward to come up with the goals.
Having said all that, the reason we have given him only 7/10 is the price point and lack of creativity in Chelsea’s attack. Although there were games in which Thomas Tuchel’s men were guilty of missing chances, in many games they hardly created any chances. Therefore, there is still uncertainty over how many chances Sterling will get in front of the goal. Sterling is, as a result, a wait-and-see option in our opinion.
Further Read: Raheem Sterling to Chelsea – The FPL Prospects | 2022/23 Season
Kai Havertz £8.0, Forward (6/10)
Kai Havertz is someone who has shown a lot of promise over the course of his Chelsea career. But the reality is he has registered 12 goals and 10 assists in his two seasons at Stamford Bridge. During the period of two years he has only 3304 minutes, which is less than 50% of the time.
Injuries, lack of consistency, and Tuchel’s rotation have all been a factor in Havertz not yet making his mark in the league. However, there was a brief period last season, where the German was deployed as the center forward. He excelled during that period and even scored 7 goals in 8 matches.
Chelsea is going into the new season, as it stands with Kai Havertz as the main man up front. He is also likely to be the main man for Germany in the world cup later this year. The 23-year-old does have what it takes to deliver in front of a goal. He just needs to develop a bit of consistency. That is why we have given him a 6/10.
Kai Havertz- Numbers Game
- Top for big chances and xG among Chelsea players last season
- Top for shots in the box
- Second highest for big chances among players priced at £8.0 or below
Pre-Season Friendlies Updates of Chelsea
They have played 3 games so far- Lost 2 games vs Charlotte FC and Arsenal and won vs Club America. Chelsea have one more game scheduled vs Udinese on 29th July to wrap up their pre-season.
Round-up so far:
- Goals- Werner, Pulisic, Mount
- Assists- Alonso, Batshuayi
You can check the full lineups, detailed info, stats of all the Chelsea’s pre-season games(including upcoming games) here.
Chelsea FPL 2022/23 season final verdict
Chelsea fans can be excited going into the new season after a lot of movements in the transfer market under the new ownership. As far as FPL is concerned, we believe that the best three Chelsea FPL options are Mendy, James, and Mount. Sterling can be a good option too if he gets off to a flyer.
Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of the 2022/23 FPL Season
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K K Anirudh
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