UEFA Champions League 2021/22: Chelsea vs Zenit St. Petersburg – stats gallery | OneFootball

The reigning European champions Chelsea kicked of the UEFA Champions League 2021/22 campaign by hosting Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. It was a tight game between the clubs, with not many chances, but Chelsea were able to score a second-half goal through Romelu Lukaku’s header and win the game 1-0. It was a nice start to their title defence, as they will look to come out on top of their group.

We’ve broken down all the key stats for you to digest, including;

* shot maps

* xT (expected threat)

* pass networks

* xG timelines

* defensive duels

* average positions and much more!

We also try to answer some questions for you with the visuals;

Which Chelsea player attempted the most number of shots? Which Zenit player had the most xT creation?

To navigate the stats gallery simply click on the numbers to move through the pages.

At the end of the gallery, you’ll be able to download the full PDF stats report.

Thomas Tuchel’s side lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation. Edouard Mendy started the game in goal for the Blues, behind the three centre backs, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta. Reece James was the right wing-back and Marcos Alonso the left wing-back. Jorginho and Kovacic started in holding midfield positions behind the two attacking midfielders Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech. Romelu Lukaku led the line for the European champions.

The average positions of Chelsea players show that they had a lot of the possession and were mostly forward in attacking positions. Romelu Lukaku was the target man upfront and inside the box. The wing-backs James and Alonso were joining the attack from both sides.

Sergei Semak’s Zenit team lined up in a 5-4-1 formation. Sardar Azmoun led the line for the Russian side, with Claudinho on the left-wing and Malcom on the right. Kuzyaev and Wendel started in central midfield, with Douglas Santos at left wing-back and Aleksei Sutormin at right wing-back. The three centre backs were Rakitskiy, Wilmar Barrios and Chistyakov. Stanislav Kritsyuk started in goal.

The average positions of Zenit St. Petersburg players show that they had their fair share of attacking moments in the game, but did not have any big chances. They had to defend a lot against a Chelsea side with a lot of the ball. Chelsea won the game 1-0 with a second-half header from striker Lukaku. Chelsea had an xG of 0.94, which was less than Zenit’s 1.16. Chelsea had 12 attempts on goal, with two on target and one goal. Zenit did not get a goal for their six shots and two on target. Chelsea had more than 63% of the possession and had a lot more attacks in the match. It was not the most impressive performance from the current Champions, but they were able to get a win and start the competition on a positive note.

Zenit’s striker, Dzyuba, who came on in the second half had the highest xG in the match with 0.72. Lukaku had the highest xG of 0.54 for Chelsea, and had four shots in the game which was the highest. Jorginho had most passes into the final third and also made the most recoveries.

Chelsea took a total of 12 shots in the game against Zenit, with just two shots on target. The goal came from inside the box from Lukaku’s header, while the other on target shot was from Ziyech from the edge of the box. Zenit St. Petersburg had just six shots in the game, with a couple from outside the bix and a couple from inside. Dzyuba had a big chance to equalize, which got him to have the highest xG in the match.

The xT creation timeline for the match showed that the home side had a lot more threat throughout the first and second half. They had most of the ball possession, and had multiple chances on goal. The xG timeline of both teams kept increasing throughout the match, but it was Chelsea who got the winning goal.

Chelsea had a lot of possession in the game and they moved the ball around a lot, collecting a large number of passes. Jorginho had the most passes in the game, and received the ball a total of 114 times. Other than him, Cesar Azpilicueta received the ball 97 times and Kovacic received the ball 90 times. Chelsea dominated the passing statistics in the match, but were not able to create as many chances as Thomas Tuchel would have liked.

Zenit did not have a lot of possession and did not create great passing numbers, Claudinho received the ball 35 times in the match, which was the highest for Zenit St. Petersburg.

The passing zones of Chelsea show that they had a huge number of passes in the midfield area, and in the wings upfront. They had a lot of passes in the dangerous areas. Mason Mount completed 14 passes into the opposition box in the match. Chelsea also put up a decent number of crosses in, also getting their goal through an Azpilicueta cross.

Zenit completed most of their passes in defensive areas and a few in midfield. They did not have many passes into the opposition box, but did put in a few successful crosses into the box.

The xT creation zones of Chelsea showed that they created a lot of threat for all areas around the opposition penalty area. Kovacic had the highest xT creation from passing for the Blues.

Kovacic had the highest xT, with Jorginho and Mason Mount also with decent xT creation. In terms of dribbling, defender Rudiger, Lukaku, Mount and Ziyech had some xT creation.

The xT creation zone sof the Russian club shows that they were unable to create much threat in positions close to the opposition box. They had one big opportunity created for Dzyuba in the second half. Azmoun had the highest xT from passing for them.

Azmoun had the highest xT creation from passing, with Rakitskiy and Douglas Santos also creating some xT. Striker Sardar Azmoun also had the highest xT from dribbling.

Chelsea had to face a few defensive duels in the match, out of which they won many. Rudiger and Reece James were part of many defensive duels, also winning a few.

There were not many aerial duels to be contested in defence, but there were a few in attacking positions. Romelu Lukaku won two aerial duels like Rudiger and Christensen.

Chelsea had a few chances to recover loose balls, in midfield and defence, and Andreas Christensen made five loose ball recoveries, which is the highest in the match.

Zenit had to face many defensive duels, especially in defensive positions. they won a fe, with Wilmar Barrios winning more than five defensive duels.

Zenit had to face many aerial duels in defense and inside their own box. Goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk won the most aerial duels with four.

Zenit had chances to win loose balls mostly in midfield and defence, and they successfully made a few recoveries. Claudinho made the highest for them, with five recoveries.

Chelsea did not have the greatest of games statistically, but they would be happy with the victory. Zenit St. Petersburg should be happy with the performance and look to win other games in the group. Zenit substitute Dzuba had the highest xG of the match. Lukaku took the most shots for Chelsea.

If you want to download the stats report in PDF format you can do so here:

UCL Stats Gallery: Chelsea vs Zenit