Reece James (£5.5m) and Ben Chilwell (£5.5m) have been priced up equally in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) for the 2023/24 season.
Both players have dropped in price by £0.5m after injury-hit campaigns but will surely have big roles to play under new Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino, who likes his full-backs to get forward at every opportunity.
Some Fantasy managers will be tempted to punt on a Blues defender given their appealing run of opening fixtures, but which is best?
We take a closer look in this Premium Members article.
AVAILABILITY
When fit, there are few better FPL defenders to own than James and Chilwell, but neither of them are reliable.
In their past three seasons with Chelsea, they’ve missed 30 and 38 matches respectively through injury per Transfermarkt, averaging roughly 20 and 16 starts per campaign.
In 2022/23, knee and hamstring injuries disrupted James’ season, limiting him to just 14 Premier League starts, while Chilwell was also hit by hamstring problems which ruled him out of the FIFA World Cup, meaning he only fared slightly better.
| 2022/23 | James | Chilwell |
| Starts | 14 | 15 |
| Subbed on | 2 | 8 |
| Minutes played per start | 84.9 | 83.5 |
| 2021/22 | James | Chilwell |
| Starts | 22 | 6 |
| Subbed on | 4 | 1 |
| Minutes played per start | 80.3 | 77.7 |
| 2020/21 | James | Chilwell |
| Starts | 25 | 27 |
| Subbed on | 7 | 0 |
| Minutes played per start | 74.8 | 84.5 |
It means the sample size for their data in 2022/23 is of course limited, but they were available enough of the time to demonstrate just how important they can be under Pochettino.
GOAL THREAT
| Player | Mins per penalty box touch | Mins per shot | Mins per shot in the box | Mins per shot on target | Mins per expected goal (xG) |
| James | 44.5 | 77.9 | 207.8 | 311.8 | 1222.5 |
| Chilwell | 36.4 | 88.7 | 129 | 354.8 | 978.6 |
While James shot more often in 2022/23, it was Chilwell who posed the greater goal threat, posting superior numbers for minutes per shot in the box (129 v 207.8) and minutes per xG (978.6 v 1222.5).
That’s because 10 of James’ 16 efforts were from outside the area, compared to Chilwell’s five of 16, which is captured below.
Above: James (left) and Chilwell’s (right) xG shot maps in 2022/23
In fact, nine of James’ efforts last term were shots from set plays, compared to Chilwell’s three, putting an even greater distance between them from open play.
However, both players’ averages fell away in the campaign just gone, which was surely a consequence of Chelsea having three different managers in 2022/23, who each brought their own ideas and tactics.
James’ run-outs at centre-half should also be factored in, which limited his attacking threat.
In a settled system, it’s fair to say we can expect both players’ output to improve in 2023/24.
ASSIST POTENTIAL
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