Gonzalo
Higuain's partnership with Eden Hazard showed promise in Chelsea's 5-0 win
over Huddersfield. Adam Bate looks at the stats...
After a fraught week for Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, his team delivered the
required response by thrashing bottom club Huddersfield 5-0 at Stamford
Bridge on Saturday. Nobody will be too surprised by that result, but it was
the promising link-up play between new signing Gonzalo Higuain and
man-of-the-match Eden Hazard that will encourage Sarri.
"I think that they are really very suitable to play together, close to one
another," Sarri said after seeing the pair help themselves to two goals each
against the Terriers. "Gonzalo played very close to Eden and I think they
can do this. For us that is very useful. It will be useful for Higuain - I
think he will be able to score goals for us - and also useful for Eden."
As
faith in Alvaro Morata disappeared and Olivier Giroud proved unable to
shoulder the burden alone, Sarri forced Hazard to play centrally but
Chelsea's star man never did take to the role. Back on the left flank where
he likes to be, the brilliant Belgian enjoyed himself again. After the
miserable defeat to Bournemouth, this was much more like it.
There were not many positives to take from their midweek beating but look
again at the stats from that 4-0 loss and one thing does stand out. Hazard
passed the ball to Higuain seven times during the 65 minutes that the
Argentine was on the pitch. That's more passes than he has made to Giroud or
Morata in any Premier League game this season.
Higuain's robust frame might not look the most mobile but he has the subtle
movements of an expert in his field. Whether it was a case of him showing
for the ball better than his predecessors or merely that Hazard was
especially keen to forge a bond with the new man, something seemed
different. "We try to work with each other," said Hazard afterwards.
Crucially, the relationship was reciprocal. Higuain followed up his seven
passes to Hazard at Bournemouth with nine against Huddersfield. Again, that
equals the most number of passes that any Chelsea striker has made to Hazard
in a Premier League game this season. Morata passed to him just once in that
90 minutes against Southampton last month.
First and foremost, Higuain is a goalscorer and that is what Chelsea will
expect from him in these coming months. But if the loan signing from
Juventus can also help to unlock Hazard's best Chelsea form then that could
really make the difference for Sarri. It was only Huddersfield at home, but
it is already evident that this is a partnership with potential.
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