Our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team review of the 2022/23 campaign continues apace with Chelsea.
Right off the bat, we’ll acknowledge that any appraisal of the Blues has to be of limited use for the new season as there’ll be a new manager at the helm and a hell of a lot of new players.
So this article is more taking a look at what’s top of Mauricio Pochettino’s in-tray after a poor 12th-place finish for the west Londoners.
If you’re new to this series, we assess each club’s attacking and defensive stats from last season and see how they stack up next to other teams.
Individual players within each squad are also reviewed.
With lots of pre-season friendlies still to come, each club will also be previewed nearer to Gameweek 1 for a better gauge of what we can expect and who might shine in 2023/24.
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CHELSEA IN 2022/23: ATTACK
| Total | Rank v other clubs | |
| Goals scored | 38 | 15th= |
| Shots | 484 | 8th |
| Shots in the box | 323 | 8th |
| Shots on target | 154 | 9th |
| Big chances | 71 | 10th |
| Expected goals (xG) | 48.77 | 13th |
| Non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) | 46.41 | 11th |
It’s not hard to see where a lot of Chelsea’s problems lay last season.
Their dismal tally of 38 goals was not only bettered by 14 other clubs but exactly half of what they managed in 2021/22 (76) and their lowest single-season total in 99 years.
Profligacy was certainly a big part of it, with no Premier League side wasting a higher percentage of the ‘big chances’ they carved out:
| Total | Rank v other PL clubs | |
| Shot-to-goal conversion rate | 7.9% | 18th= |
| Percentage of shots that ended up on target | 31.8% | 15th= |
| Percentage of ‘big chances’ converted | 26.8% | 20th |
| xG delta (diff. between xG and goals scored) | -10.77 | 19th |
A failure to recruit a reliable out-and-out striker and a real off-season for Kai Havertz, who had the worst individual xG delta (minus penalties) in the whole of the Premier League, were big factors.
But it’d be wrong to put the blame solely at the feet of wasteful finishers.
