7.6 rating and 7/11 ground duels – Chelsea’s box to box beast has the ideal platform to earn starting place coming up | OneFootball

Strasbourg beat Lyon 4-2 tonight at home to climb to 5th in Ligue 1, just 3 points off second place.

Liam Rosenior has them flying, with one defeat in the league since November, and 6 wins and a draw in their last 7 games.

Given it’s a Friday after the international break, there were a lot of eyes on the game, and Andrey Santos stepped up to show just how good he is. He scored the opening goal and put in another great all round performance.

Watching from the UK was ESPN writer Julien Laurens, and on X after the game he glowed about the on-loan Brazilian:

“Andrey Santos with another huge performance for Strasbourg tonight against Lyon,” Laurens wrote.

Another goal (his 9th already in the league this season), ball recoveries, duels won. One of the best midfielders in Ligue 1. Chelsea have a special talent,” Laurens concluded.

Club World Cup provides perfect platform for rising star

Andrey Santos celebrates a cup goal. (Photo by Francois Nascimbeni/AFP via Getty Images)

The stats are sublime from the match: Santos had 100% successful take ons, 2 interceptions, 3 tackles, 7/11 ground duels won and passed with 88% accuracy. WhoScored gave him a 7.6/10 match rating.

Santos is one of the most in-form players in Europe, never mind at Chelsea. He will come into this summer’s Club World Cup in red hot form, and could potentially be the player who benefits most from the platform.

Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo have had a long season and will be used sparingly. Many others picked will be new arrivals or fringe players without regular play in their legs from this season. Santos, who has played a lot but not too much, should be in prime position to show Enzo Maresca what he can do.

The weaker opposition in the early rounds should give him a chance to get on the scoresheet, the stronger teams a chance to show what he can do in a more restricted role.