Chelsea made a few changes to their team yesterday, and some got more attention than others.
The inclusion of Callum Hudson-Odoi for his first Premier Leauge start was the headline news of course, but after that there was Emerson in for Marcos Alonso, Ruben Loftus-Cheek playing in midfield, and even Andreas Christensen at the back.
So Gonzalo Higuain being rested for Olivier Giroud got relatively little coverage.
But he ended up playing an important role, and the stat below from Daniel Storyy shows exactly how influential he has been this season – despite starting relatively few games.
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You can see the impressive stat here:
Eden Hazard has scored 59% of his goals this season when Olivier Giroud has been on the pitch. They've only started nine games together.
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) April 4, 2019
The way the pair link up has been notable right from a year ago when Giroud came to the club. Often it feels like the kind of thing that gets exaggerated in the memory, but in reality these stats prove that they do combine well.
The way that Giroud can provide a solid wall for Hazard to play off – but still has a great touch and close control, makes them deadly as a combination around the box.
