After a hot and cold debut season in the Premier League, Eden Hazard was hoping this year he could become more consistent and become a real game changer for Chelsea. He has done just that and has been arguably the best player in the league. Hazard has pushed on and shown he is worth the £32 million that Chelsea paid for him last summer. Hazard has shown his quality and is a big reason for Chelsea being top of the table. In this article, I will take a look at Hazard’s stats and find out just how good he has been for Chelsea, this season.
Race For the Title
If you compare Hazard to other title contending teams top players (Ozil for Arsenal, Silva for City and Suarez for Liverpool) Hazard has been the most creative of them with 65 created chances. While he creates the most chances, Hazard creates chances least often with one every 34 minutes as opposed to Ozil creating every 29 minutes, Suarez every 31 minutes and Silva every 21 minutes. That said, Hazard is the most important to his teams creativity with Hazard creating 22% of his teams chances from open play compared to Ozil creating 19% of his teams open play chances Silva creating 16% and Suarez creating 15% of his teams open play chances. Hazard has completed 30 more dribbles than any of the other players with 98. Hazard has created seven clear cut chances making him third among the three behind Suarez with 16 and Silva with eight but ahead of Ozil with three. His five assists put him behind all three but some of that is due to the fact that he is not a main set piece taker for the team like Ozil and Silva are.
Hazard has blossomed into a much more consistent goalscorer this season. When it comes to goals, no one has the edge on Suarez in terms of number of goals with 23. That said, although Hazard has only scored 12 goals he has a higher chance conversion rate of 31% while Suarez’s is only 24%. Both Ozil and Silva are less prolific scorers with both only grabbing four goals and Ozil having a 21% chance conversion rate and Silva only an 18% conversion rate. Again in clear cut chances, Hazard has the best conversion rate of 71% compared to 53% of Suarez 38% of Ozil and 25% of Silva. Suarez is scoring at an unprecedented rate of a goal every 83 minutes but again Hazard is a strong second scoring every 182 minutes with Ozil scoring every 453 minutes and Silva every 335 minutes. While Suarez has been Liverpool’s main creator, he plays as a striker in most games and is a striker by trait meaning he will have the edge in the goals department. That said, the fact that Hazard has done so well in scoring goals from the wing is impressive and a big reason Chelsea are top.
Hazard has elevated his game to new heights this season making him one of the top players in the season. He has developed his game and become a much more consistent creator and goal scorer. If he can keep his performance levels up he will give Chelsea a much better chance at getting the Premier League trophy at the end of the season.
