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FT Stat Update:

-Shots (on target): Chelsea 16 (5), Aston Villa 10 (2)

-xG: Chelsea 1.82, Villa 0.71

-Final-third passes: Chelsea 112, Villa 65

-Penalty-area passes: Chelsea 12, Villa 11

The NBC announcers seem to think that Villa "were the better team". Perhaps the xG overplays it a bit -- they both spent some time in the opposition penalty area -- but Chelsea should've won this game! Chelsea have edged the xG in the past four matches ... and they've only won one. I'm no huge Lampard fan, but his team is getting bitten by the finishing bug -- on both sides -- match after match. It maybe seems worse than it is because so much of their attack play is based on either A) crosses, or B) super-talented players doing things that super-talented players do. But: Chelsea have a ton of super-talented players, and in a lot of these games, that should've been enough.

Metaphorical Ham Cut in the Shape of Jack Grealish's Leg: Anwar El Ghazi. Four goals in his last four matches; he led Villa in shots and chances created. He also got an up-close-and-personal view of Olivier Giroud's spray-tanned face for an extended period of time. Some may be jealous; others may feel bad for him. Either way: a laudable achievement.

That's it for today! Lotta fun. See you again tomorrow!

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Aston Villa don't respect the game. Also: Kante just hanging behind El Ghazi on that cross. Not great!

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Hello, friends! Despite everything you just read: Villa are playing the same exact lineup they played two days ago. We'll see how that goes.

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YOU TRY TO INJURE GREALISH AND YOU DIE, PATRICK

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Dec 28, 2020Liked by Ryan O'Hanlon

Lampard: "The players have to take responsibility. At half time I told them NOT to concede"

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I would pay so much to read 1000 words from Lampard about what he thinks Havertz’s best position is & what he actually wants him to do. Come to think of it, I bet so would Havertz

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El Ghazi is the new Ryan Giggs.

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Chelsea fans: It seems like you guys ... hate most of your players? Does anyone other than Kante have a near-universal approval rating?

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Dec 28, 2020Liked by Ryan O'Hanlon

Pulisic hockey assist king!

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Will Grealish's performances decline in the winter due to his refusal to de-expose his calves?

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Dec 28, 2020Liked by Ryan O'Hanlon

So Pulisic gets his first 90 minutes in what feels like forever, then starts 48 hours later. What could go wrong?

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Dec 28, 2020Liked by Ryan O'Hanlon

recklessly bet on chelsea -.5 for sake of thread

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Bearded Pulisic can't finish. I'm certain the stats back this up

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So, Lampard signs a speedy striker, and the next great German Raumdeuter, and says he has a plan for both. Yet the only tactics this year have been “get it to the fullbacks, cross, and pray” with or without those players. Is there any other sort of tactic going on here I’m missing?

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Who deserves the ham today? I don't know who deserves the ham today.

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HT Stat Update:

-Shots (on target): Chelsea 7 (2), Villa 6 (1)

-xG, per Stats Perform: Chelsea 1.46, Villa 0.28

-Final-third passes: Chelsea 48, Villa 32

-Penalty-area passes: Chelsea 5, Villa 3

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That confused lampard look epitomizes his management style

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calvin and i both losing our "dueling" bets was always the inevitable outcome

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Cant believe none of you took Grealish on your Ballon d'Or pod

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You can tell Grealish is a real Leader In The Clubhouse because all the Villa players are following his short-shorts lead

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That pass from CHO across to Pulisic was absurd

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Advanced analytics question: Why don't people just kick Jack Grealish really hard in his exposed shin. Am I missing something? Surely each team has at least one player on the bench with a sense of moral relativism that would allow for it?

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Looking at Chelsea’s bench... my god they should be better than they are

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Will COVID do what the FA won't and give the Premier League a winter break?

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Is there an easier PL player to dribble past than Jorginho?

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It feels like pulisic is hesitating when he has a chance to beat someone in the box. When he was killing it this summer he seemed to be super decisive and defenders couldn’t handle it

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Does Aston Villa have the potential to consistently finish in the top seven for seasons to come or will it be tough to sustain their current level of play?

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Should we be considering Chelsea's defenders "mid-table" and thus Lamp's ability to get the top defense out of them a real success? If so, wouldn't that be much more valuable to true mid-table side than for the only club that had liquid cash the past window? If not (i.e., the defenders really are world-class) than has Lamps offered Chelsea anything?

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If Lampard gets sacked (never want to talk about another man’s job), who would be the replacement? Would Favre or Nagelsman be serious candidates?

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What do we make of the reporting that Werner's shooting technique is off-kilter and that he basically doesn't aim? Given his history of scoring plenty of goals it seems like a non problem, but it's also not the kind of thing you hear very often from serious journalists. Or does aiming actually not matter and players are just trying to hit it hard at a random number generator that sometimes spits out goals? https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/dec/25/chelsea-best-timo-werner-frank-lampard

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How good is Kante actually? Or is he more one of those players people say is incredible because that's just what everyone says, and as a litmus test to show they can judge a player based on more than goals and assists? I haven't watched him enough to be able to tell.

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Ryan, any thoughts on my sense that there don’t seem to be a lot of proper strikers coming through the pipeline in England? Was thinking about potential Vardy replacements and haven’t seen/read about many options (would love a Leicester chat at some point)

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Is Tottenham Hotspur a club that will still challenge for a place within the top four or will their finances hold them back to where their mainly challenging between 5th and 8th place?

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Shocking from Kante for the equaliser.

Christensen down injured hear the half-way line. Azpi shuffles across to cover in the middle.

What does Kante do?

Half-heartedly press a guy who already had two guys on him...then fail to track the run of El-Ghazi, leaving him all alone on the back stick.

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Won’t get to participate Wednesday so I’m going to ask now. How many starting Prem midfields would Curtis Jones get into right now?

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2 N’Golo Kante shots in like 2 minutes. Interesting approach from Frank...lol

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How many attackers getting good xG numbers but not actually finishing is too many? Asking for a friend. Also, does it matter if you also have Giroud doing the near opposite?

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a jorginho blunder in his own penalty area feels imminent

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Not sure about this Villa tactic of leaving Chillwell in acres of space just outside of the box

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Since everyone is having substack sales, which ones do you recommend?

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How far would Villa have to finish down the table for Grealish not to be one of the favourites for player of the season? He has to be the a top three contender at this point right?

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It feels like heresy to even mention, but is Kanté showing signs of being washed?

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