Mudryk's Anfield cameo offers Chelsea fans glimpse of his talent

Mykhailo Mudryk replaced Lewis Hall after 55 minutes during Chelsea’s game against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday. As the match clock ticked towards the 64th minute, it was clear why the Blues had parted with an initial £62m to hijack Arsenal’s move for the Ukrainian.  

It took the 22-year-old just shy of 10 minutes to, rather emphatically, put to bed doubts that he might not be suited to the pace or intensity of the Premier League. Having received the ball on the edge of the area, he exchanged passes with Conor Gallagher before accelerating into the centre of the box. Mudryk evaded a James Milner lunge before dancing past Joe Gomez into space on his weaker side and firing a left-footed effort into the side netting.  

Moments later he threatened to attack the space down the Chelsea left and was brought down by Milner. The experienced Liverpool No. 7 took a booking and was soon subbed.

Mudryk changed the game for the Blues. They couldn’t carve out a winner, but before his introduction, it felt like a matter of when and not if Liverpool would break the deadlock. The Reds looked like a different team following the break and had the visitors pinned in.  

The No. 15 wasn’t just an out ball for the Blues, he also allowed them to sustain attacks. For example, he finished the game with a pass success rate of 92.9%. For a bit of context here, Hall, the man he replaced, had a success rate of just 58.8%. Mudryk was getting Chelsea into dangerous areas and then ensuring these stints in the  Liverpool half weren’t brief, courtesy of his pass selection.  

You can’t help but wonder what might’ve happened had the former Shakhtar man started the game. Potter made the call to limit his involvement and he explained his reasoning in his post-match interview. Speaking to BT Sport, he said: "He hasn't played football for a while, he's been on a mid-season break so we've had to manage his minutes and he's still in that phase. But I think you can see his quality. I thought he had a good impact on the game." 

The fleet-footed flyer attempted the joint-most dribbles (4), won all of his tackles and 50% of his aerial duels. Only two Chelsea players attempted more tackles than Mudryk - Marc Cucurella and Jorginho - and both played the entire 90 minutes. If you look at just his time on the pitch, the speedster ranked first for dribbles attempted and tackles attempted. It shows he is willing to put in a defensive shift and isn’t solely focused on impacting the final third. 

Granted, the sample size isn’t the largest and fans shouldn’t get too carried away just yet, but everything does seem to point towards Mudryk being the man to make the left-wing berth for Chelsea his own. Potter has tried various players in that role, and Christian Pulisic was in possession of the role until his latest injury, but few seem to be as well-rounded as the former Arsenal transfer target. He is quick but also powerful. His acceleration alone will cause issues for defenders, but his ability to maintain pace over long periods is going to cause havoc for Chelsea on the break. 

The real difference-maker, however, is his ability to confidently use either foot. He is unpredictable yet reliable at the same time. Teammates might not know how he’s going to beat a man, but they know he is going to, so they should ensure they’re in the right place to benefit.

That right there is what the Blues need right now. In truth, it is something a lot of teams yearn for. Reliability in the final third. Mudryk might not be a reliable goal threat. He might not ever be one. But he is a reliable threat. Potter needs that right now to help his inconsistent team find some form in the second half of the campaign.