‘Unbelievable’ Acheampong stars in Chelsea loss to Atalanta | OneFootball

Chelsea continued their winless run, suffering a 2-1 loss to Atalanta, leaving the Blues down in 11th place on the Champions League table.

Chelsea scored first but, once again, let the game slip away following another lacklustre performance.

Despite the poor overall showing, defender Josh Acheampong was one of the standout performers and showed Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca that he deserves more playing time.

The young Chelsea starlet lined up at right-back and put in a solid showing on both sides of the ball.

Acheampong created a big dying-minute chance for Joao Pedro to equalise, but the Brazilian could only fire straight at the goalkeeper.

The 19-year-old also made two ‘unbelievable’ blocks and won 3/5 of his duels while completing his one attempted dribble, earning a 9/10 rating from Football London.

Maresca has come under fire for not using the England youth international more, and rightly so.

At the beginning of the season, he was playing remarkably well, but when the senior stars returned, he was immediately sidelined.

However, it should be clear to Maresca and his coaching staff that Acheampong deserves more game time.

Acheampong should be ahead of at least two Chelsea defenders in the pecking order

Acheampong deserves game time ahead of Tosin Adarabioyo and Benoit Badiashile.

He executes Maresca’s defensive man-for-man press that drags defenders out wide better than the duo.

Adarabioyo has also been a bundle of nerves recently. He gave away the needless foul that led to Atalanta’s winning goal.

His defensive judgement has been found wanting one too many times this season.

Badiashile’s fitness and lack of composure are also massive issues at the back for Chelsea. Ideally, Acheampong should push him out of the first-team picture soon.

At this point, it is clear that Acheampong belongs at the top level, and this performance, his first start in the Champions League, only served to rubber-stamp that notion.