Five observations from Chesea's 0-0 draw with Tottenham

 

Chelsea and Tottenham played out a 0-0 draw in Sunday's London derby, with Mason Mount and Serge Aurier having the best chances to win the game for their respective sides. Here we look at five observations from the Stamford Bridge stalemate. 

 

Tanguy Ndombele's ever growing importance 

 

Back in March, Jose Mourinho was scathing of Tanguy Ndombele in the wake of Tottenham's 1-1 draw with Burnley. The Frenchman was hauled off at the break and a lack of regular game time post-lockdown saw the midfielder linked with a summer exit from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. No matter his club-record status, Ndombele struggled for minutes under Mourinho and it was expected that his stay would come to a pre-mature end, a year after his high profile arrival from Lyon. 

 

In the present day, though, Ndombele is a key man under Mourinho. Operating further forward in a 4-2-3-1 system, the youngster's defensive duties are eased, that in itself helped by the arrival of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, but even so; Ndombele has been gliding through midfields this season like a hot knife through butter. 

 

Like clockwork, Ndombele was withdrawn on the hour mark for Giovani Lo Celso - he has come off at this stage now in each of his last five competitive starts - but he was able to break the Chelsea press during his time on the pitch, completing six dribbles to Chelsea's three at the time he was withdrawn. With each passing week, Ndombele cements his place in the Spurs XI and the weekend's London derby was no exception.

 

Joe Rodon's full debut 

 

Toby Alderweireld sustained a groin injury late on in Tottenham's 2-0 win over Manchester City last week. The issue isn't as serious as first feared, but the Belgian is ruled out until mid-December. It left Jose Mourinho with a choice on his hands as he looked to bring in a partner for Eric Dier. Summer signing Joe Rodon appears to have leapfrogged Davinson Sanchez in the pecking order in north London and the Welshman was thrown in at the deep end on Sunday as he made his full debut at Chelsea. 

 

There was an early scare for Rodon early in the London derby as he was caught out in the build up to Timo Werner's goal, but the German was offside when Mason Mount played the pass for the Chelsea striker to spare the youngster's blushes. Early in the second half, Rodon made a vital block to deny Werner, while a total of four clearances and two interceptions noted his knack for being in the right place at the right time to alleviate pressure on his side's goal. 

 

He endured a hairy moment in second half injury time as he weakly headed back towards Hugo Lloris, which presented Olivier Giroud with a chance late on, but the Chelsea striker was unable to capitalise. Sunday's stalemate, though, was a learning experience for Rodon, who came away from his full debut with a WhoScored rating of 6.64  

 

Chelsea full-backs frustrated by Tottenham's shape 

 

Jose Mourinho made no unenforced changes to his favoured starting XI for Tottenham's trip to Chelsea, but rather tinkered with the approach in order to limit the influence of the Blues' full-backs. Reece James and Ben Chilwell have license to break forward and support the attack where possible. It's been effective for Chelsea this season, with Chilwell (7.66) and James (7.19) among their best rated players in the Premier League coming into Sunday's game.

 

However, Mourinho made tactical tweaks in order to minimise their influence, with Son Heung-Min and Steven Bergwijn required to drop deep and double up on the Chelsea wingers and full-backs. It meant that space in the final third was at a premium as Chilwell and James struggled to get forward and pick a pass for their attacking teammates. As such, both, and in particular James, were forced to try to play a decisive ball from deeper. 

 

The crosses from deep, though, were comfortably defended or overhit with space out wide hard to come by. Lampard to his credit made tweaks to the way his team played for the second half, but with the wide players putting earlier crosses, it was an approach that would have suited Olivier Giroud's skill set rather than Tammy Abraham, who came off with 10 minutes to play having garnered a WhoScored rating of 6.30. That Chilwell (104) and James (88) ranked among the top four for touches in the game, four key passes between them was a lowly return considering how much they saw of the ball as Mourinho limited their influence well.

 

Edouard Mendy's clean sheet record 

 

 

Edouard Mendy made only one save in Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Tottenham, that coming early on to deny Serge Aurier, but he made a number of key interventions to ensure Tottenham crosses didn't find their target. The Senegalese shotstopper has been an inspired capture by the Blues, easing into first-team duties and making Chelsea are far sturdier side. 

 

A shutout against Spurs on Sunday evening now means he has kept more clean sheets (5) than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League this season, despite making just six appearances. While not the most scintillating of London derbies, Mendy did what was required and played out from the back well, too, as he was the only starter to return a 100% pass success rate, finding a Chelsea teammate with all 18 passes. 

 

Man of the match 

 

Five observations from Chesea's 0-0 draw with Tottenham

 

In a match low on overall quality, it was Tanguy Ndombele who earned the WhoScored man of the match award with a rating of 7.62. The France international dealt with any pressure from the Chelsea midfield with ease as he completed six dribbles in the stalemate.

 

Five observations from Chesea's 0-0 draw with Tottenham