Kepa Arrizabalaga’s time as Chelsea’s No1 appeared to be over — but the Spaniard has emerged from the blue to win back his starting spot.
Edouard Mendy had been the West Londoners’ first-choice stopper under Thomas Tuchel, with the former Athletic Bilbao man consigned to the role of understudy.
But Graham Potter’s appointment coincided with an injury to Mendy and Kepa has been afforded a fresh chance between the sticks.
Ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Manchester United this afternoon, we take a look at how the Spaniard has begun restoring his reputation at Stamford Bridge.
Rollercoaster ride
Kepa was signed for £72million in the summer of 2018 — a world-record fee for a goalkeeper.
However, the Spaniard failed to live up to expectations in SW6, making a plethora of mistakes and notably refusing to come off ahead of a penalty shootout in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City in 2019 — which Chelsea lost.
In September 2020, Mendy was brought in from Rennes to replace Kepa and it seemed to be only a matter of time until the 11-cap international left the club.
But an injury to Mendy handed the 28-year-old a chance and he has started every one of Chelsea’s Champions League games this season, as well as the last four in the Premier League.
It appears Kepa has — at least for now — convinced Potter that he deserves to be the Blues’ No1 once more, with Mendy fit again but on the bench.
Hero against Villans
Kepa has certainly been repaying his manager’s faith — not least against Aston Villa last weekend when he made a number of sensational saves to help secure a 2-0 victory.
After that game, Potter was understandably effusive about his goalkeeper’s qualities.
He said: “It was a world-class performance [from Kepa], especially in the first half.
“I’m really pleased for him, he has had a tough period for us at times but he contributed to the game.
“He is contributing to us with clean sheets and how we’re trying to play and the environment around the place.
“I’ve got to say, all three goalkeepers we’ve had here have been really, really good in that regard — supporting each other, providing good competition and that picks everybody’s level up and Kepa has found a fantastic level today.
“He made some brilliant saves that have kept us in the game and allowed us to win the points, so [I’m] really pleased for him.”
The former Brighton boss will have been equally delighted with Kepa’s display against Brentford in midweek.
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Sweeper Kepa
An area in which Kepa has been notably proficient this season is coming off his line to deal with danger.
In the Champions League, only Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris has made more keeper sweeper regains (five) than his four.
Additionally, Kepa ranks inside the top 10 goalkeepers in the competition for possessions won in the defensive third (four) and has even won possession in the middle third twice — more than any other player in his position.
Furthermore, he is one of a select group of stoppers in the Champions League to have registered an interception or a headed clearance — demonstrating his ability to rush out and sweep up danger behind his defenders.
Keeping steady
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Kepa also appears to have ironed out some of the errors in his game.
The Ondarroa native had a propensity to let in soft goals early on in his Chelsea career — but there has been no sign of that so far this term.
In his four Champions League appearances so far, he has not made a single error leading to a shot or a goal and has not conceded from outside the box either, saving three such attempts.
Playmaking pedigree?
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Despite his many qualities, Kepa does not possess the same ability with his feet as goalkeepers like Ederson or Alisson.
He has attempted just 98 passes in the Champions League this term, completing only 69 and taking just 121 touches.
Kepa ranks outside the top 20 goalkeepers in all three of those metrics and is evidently not heavily utilised in Chelsea’s build-up.
But that will not be too much of a concern for Potter if he continues to turn in the kind of reliable performances we have witnessed this season.
Source: Livescore