The final match of Blank Gameweek 33 was all about one man: Eden Hazard.
The Monday night game at Stamford Bridge might well have been the swansong for Chelsea’s assets in many Fantasy squads this season, given that the Blues have trips to Liverpool and Manchester United in two of their next three league matches.
Maurizio Sarri’s side also only have one fixture in Gameweek 35, when eight teams – including four of the “big six” – have two.
Just like Jamie Vardy did on Saturday, however, Hazard delivered a 16-point haul to make the decision to offload the Belgian that little bit harder.
Chelsea 2-0 West Ham United
- Goals: Eden Hazard (£11.1m) x2
- Assists: Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.2m), Ross Barkley (£5.1m)
Maurizio Sarri paid tribute to Eden Hazard (£11.1m) after the Belgian winger delivered arguably one of his finest performances – perhaps even the best – of 2018/19 in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over West Ham United.
Hazard found the back of the net on two occasions on Monday evening (his first a Goal of the Season candidate) and Sarri told a post-match press conference:
Hazard, of course, played a wonderful match. He scored an incredible goal. When Hazard is able to play like he did in the last two matches, of course, it’s easier. We can win against every team.
Hazard has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer and, when asked if Chelsea could afford to lose their talismanic midfielder, Sarri replied:
From a technical point of view, no, not at the moment. It’s impossible to find another Hazard. At the moment there isn’t another Hazard. His level is so high in all the world I think you can find two [other] players like Hazard.
I hope Hazard can stay here, otherwise, we have to try something different.
I am sure the club doesn’t want to sell him but of course, we all have to respect his decision. He is in his last season of contract. If he wants to have another experience we have to respect it. We will try of course in every way to convince him but it’s not easy.
He told me that he has to decide [on his future].
Cold statistics sometimes don’t tell the full story of how well a player has performed but the underlying attacking data paints an accurate picture of just how superior Hazard was to everyone else on show: the Belgian ranked first for attempts on goal, shots on target, efforts in the box, key passes, crosses, take-ons and penalty box touches.
Hazard also registered more than twice as many touches in the final third as the next-most-involved player.
From the moment Angelo Ogbonna (£4.2m) was booked for desperately hauling down Hazard in the tenth minute, the Belgian was electric.
His first goal was, like his strikes against Wolves and Brighton, all his own work.
Collecting the ball from Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.2m) about 40 yards out, Hazard dodged and weaved his way past five West Ham shirts before slotting past Lukasz Fabianski (£4.8m) to put Chelsea 1-0 up.
Hazard’s first touch and vision were excellent all evening and there was no sign of any fatigue as we approach a busy final month of 2018/19, with the Belgian looking sharp whenever he received the ball.
There could well have been other attacking returns: Gonzalo Higuain (£9.5m) cracked the upright following a Hazard pass, while Callum Hudson-Odoi (£4.2m) stung the fingertips of Fabianski following another glorious through-ball from the premium FPL midfielder.
Hazard himself whistled a 47th-minute effort just wide of Fabianski’s left-hand post while Marko Arnautovic (£6.8m) was perhaps fortunate not to concede a penalty following a rather robust shoulder barge on the Chelsea winger.
The Belgium international got a well-deserved second goal when converting a Ross Barkley (£5.1m) pass late on.
This is already Hazard’s best season for FPL attacking returns (28 – 16 goals, 12 assists) while he trails Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) by one solitary point in the overall standings.
Raheem Sterling (£11.5m) is the only outfield player with a better rate of points per matches this season, meanwhile.
Hazard is, by quite some distance, already the most-sold player of Gameweek 34.
With so many other premium options enjoying easier run-ins and two fixtures in Double Gameweek 35, the mass exodus will likely continue but it’s sod’s law that the Belgian is finally hitting a purple patch after a barren three months or so.
Away from Hazard, there were some noteworthy displays.
Hudson-Odoi and Loftus-Cheek were handed second successive league starts and produced positive (if completely overshadowed) performances, with Loftus-Cheek especially impressing in central midfield with his physicality and link-up play with Hazard.
The recalled Higuain again frustrated, though, both from a Fantasy owner and Chelsea fan’s perspective.
The Argentinean’s touch was often loose and his pass completion percentage was the joint-lowest among Chelsea’s 11 starters, with several moves breaking down due to his waywardness.
Ryan Fredericks (£4.5m) blocked one goalbound effort after Higuain delayed his attempt too long and apart from the aforementioned shot from a narrow angle that struck the post, the premium forward didn’t trouble Fabianski again.
Higuain for Olivier Giroud (£7.7m) was one of only two changes that Sarri made, with Antonio Rudiger (£5.9m) replacing Andreas Christensen (£5.0m) in his other alteration.
Chelsea are next in action on Thursday against Slavia Prague and Sarri promised rotation for that match when interviewed after the game.
The former Napoli head coach said:
Now we have a very hard week. We have to play in 72 hours in the Europa League, then after 72 hours in Liverpool.
Probably now we have 20 players ready to play, unlike three months ago, so for sure we will have to change the starting XI in the Europa League.
Chelsea’s backline recorded their eighth clean sheet in 11 league matches at Stamford Bridge but after barely being troubled in the opening 45 minutes, the Blues faced more of a test after the interval.
Manuel Pellegrini had started with Arnuatovic on the right wing for this London derby but moved the Austrian up front in the second half, sacrificing Javier Hernandez (£6.1m) for Robert Snodgrass (£5.0m) at the break.
The return to a 4-1-4-1 after half-time prompted a better display from the Hammers, with Arnautovic going close with a blocked header, Aaron Cresswell (£5.0m) firing a shot narrowly wide and Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5.4m) finally forced into action by shots from Manuel Lanzini (£6.4m) and the improved Felipe Anderson (£7.0m).
Pellegrini said after full-time:
We improved a lot in the second half. We had opportunities, and we could have drawn the game but finally, they scored the second goal.
I think the difference was in the first 45 minutes, that we didn’t start the game with the pace that you need to play.
When a player with the quality of Hazard, you know he can make different things. Going between four players is not easy, so maybe we could have been more aggressive. That was our attitude in the first 45 minutes, in the way we defended that goal and the way we played.
After that, I think we changed a lot of things, in the pace we played and the part of the pitch we played in too. We played forward and not so close to our box, and we had the chances to draw.
Better performance or not, West Ham still haven’t scored a goal from open play away from home in 2019 and are winless in seven fixtures on their travels – food for thought for those looking at assets from Manchester United and Spurs, who are the Hammers’ next two opponents on the road.
Pellegrini also cleared up why substitute Samir Nasri (£5.0m) didn’t come on after seemingly being readied for introduction at the interval:
Samir was going to start in the second half but in the warm-up felt a muscle injury in his calf, so he was not confident to play. We’ll see how it is tomorrow.
Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Emerson; Kante, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek (Barkley 70′); Hudson-Odoi (Pedro 85′), Higuain (Giroud 76′), Hazard.
West Ham United XI (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Fredericks, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Noble (Obiang 70′), Rice; Arnautovic, Lanzini, Anderson; Hernandez (Snodgrass 46′).
