Tuchel confirms Chelsea goalkeeper pecking order & reassures Christian Pulisic following Newcastle
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has tonight provided an insight into the club’s pecking order between the posts, after handing Kepa Arrizabalaga a surprise start versus Newcastle.
Werner back on the scoresheet
The Blues were of course back in Premier League action a short time ago, in a meeting with Steve Bruce’s men at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea headed into proceedings with confidence high in the club’s camp, having rattled off a quartet of consecutive victories under their new boss over the last couple of weeks.
Such form meant that, ahead of kick-off this evening, Tuchel and co. were aware that another positive result would see them leapfrog floundering champions Liverpool into the top-4.
And, when the 90 minutes were said and done in west London, this is precisely what the hosts managed.
Olivier Giroud opened the game’s scoring just past the half-hour mark, shortly after being introduced off the bench in place of the injured Tammy Abraham:
🗣️ “That is brilliant from Timo Werner”
Olivier Giroud fires Chelsea ahead after good work from his strike-partner
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And Timo Werner made sure of all 3 points shortly before half-time, bringing to an end a remarkable 1000-minute long Premier League drought in front of goal in the process:
Timo Werner gets his goal 💙
A brilliant first half display from the German striker sees him double the Blues’ lead
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📲 Download the @SkySports app! pic.twitter.com/YduLcdbr6r— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 15, 2021
‘Edouard is number one’
As such, on the back of proceedings coming to a close at the Bridge, the majority of the post-match chatter has surrounded Werner’s long overdue return to the scoresheet.
Ahead of the action getting underway, however, the pre-match chatter actually surrounded one of those included at the other end of the pitch for Chelsea vs Newcastle.
The player in question came in the form of Kepa Arrizabalaga, who was handed a surprise start in place of Edouard Mendy.
The Spaniard, in turn, went on to enjoy a solid evening in the capital, keeping a clean sheet, and looking assured throughout the 90 minutes.
In turn, speaking during his post-match interview, Thomas Tuchel was inevitably drawn on whether or not Kepa has usurped Mendy as his no.1 for the time being.
The Chelsea manager, however, was quick to confirm that this is not the case, with the latter remaining Tuchel’s clear-cut first-choice between the posts:
‘No, Edouard (Mendy) is number one. This is clear. This was clear before the game and stays like this.’
🗣 “Edouard is number 1, this is clear.”
Thomas Tuchel confirms that Edouard Mendy is Chelsea’s number 1 pic.twitter.com/36YUJ2GosW
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 15, 2021
The topic of conversation was then angled towards Christian Pulisic, who failed to even make it off the bench this evening, amid a difficult start to life under his new boss.
Tuchel, though, was keen to reassure the former Borussia Dortmund man of his importance, urging Pulisic to ‘keep on going’:
Tuchel on Pulisic: “Christian deserves to start, deserved to come in [from the bench] but I can only bring in three guys. He just needs to keep on going.” #CFC #CHENEW
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) February 15, 2021
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City FC | 23 | 32 | 53 |
| 2 | Manchester United FC | 24 | 19 | 46 |
| 3 | Leicester City FC | 24 | 16 | 46 |
| 4 | Liverpool FC | 24 | 13 | 40 |
| 5 | Chelsea FC | 23 | 14 | 39 |
| 6 | West Ham United FC | 23 | 6 | 39 |
| 7 | Everton FC | 22 | 4 | 37 |
| 8 | Aston Villa FC | 22 | 12 | 36 |
| 9 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 23 | 11 | 36 |
| 10 | Arsenal FC | 24 | 6 | 34 |
| 11 | Leeds United | 23 | -2 | 32 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 24 | -7 | 30 |
| 13 | Southampton FC | 23 | -9 | 29 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace FC | 24 | -15 | 29 |
| 15 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 24 | -5 | 26 |
| 16 | Burnley FC | 23 | -12 | 26 |
| 17 | Newcastle United FC | 23 | -13 | 25 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 23 | -12 | 18 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 24 | -36 | 13 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 23 | -22 | 11 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 17 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 14 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 13 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 12 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 12 |
| Gundogan, Ilkay | Manchester City FC | 11 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 10 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 9 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 8 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 8 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 8 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 8 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 8 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 7 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 7 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 8 |
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 7 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 7 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 6 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 6 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 6 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 6 |
| Maguire, Harry | Manchester United FC | 0 | 6 |
| Kante, N`Golo | Chelsea FC | 0 | 6 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 6 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Dallas, Stuart | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
| Klich, Mateusz | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Reid, Bobby | Fulham FC | 0 | 5 |
| Shaw, Luke | Manchester United FC | 0 | 5 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 0 | 5 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 11 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 9 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 6 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 6 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 6 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 6 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 5 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 5 |
| Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 5 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 5 |
| Robertson, Andrew | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Shaw, Luke | Manchester United FC | 5 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 4 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 4 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 4 |
| Harrison, Jack | Leeds United | 4 |
