Enzo Maresca fully rotated his Chelsea side yet again in the UEFA Conference League, handing out full Chelsea debuts to both Josh Acheampong and Sam Rak-Sakyi last night.
The Blues are now five wins from five in the European competition, topping the group with 15 points, scoring 21 goals and only conceding four times, giving them a +17 goal difference.
The latest victory saw Chelsea beat Kazakhstan side Astana 3-1, with goals coming from talented youngsters Marc Guiu and Renato Veiga. The 18-year-old striker put in an excellent performance, even receiving high praise from a former Chelsea legend.
Marc Guiu's performance vs Astana
Guiu scored the opener for Chelsea within 14 minutes with a lovely solo goal, receiving the ball from Pedro Neto in a wide area, before driving inside and cooly placing it past the Astana keeper.
Chelsea’s second was also forced by Guiu, getting on the end of Neto’s drilled ball across the box, which later went down as an own goal by Aleksandr Marochkin.
Minutes
78
Touches
22
Accurate Passes
11/15
Goals
1
Key Passes
1
Shots
3
Ground Duels Won
1/2
The 18-year-old striker only needed 22 touches to affect the game, taking three shots (two on target), making one key pass, and winning one of his two ground duels. His excellent performance earned the teen a 9/10 match rating from The Express.
Joe Cole praised the young strikers’ performance, stating “Marc Guiu must have watched Luis Suárez as a young man at Barcelona”.
“He was a thorn in the side throughout for Astana in that first half. He was direct and the first goal was exquisite from the young man.” – Joe Cole in Guiu.
A £75m star in the making?
Chelsea signed Guiu from Barcelona this summer, joining for a fee of around £5m, and is already being compared to one of the best strikers of his generation. Suarez moved from Liverpool to Barcelona in 2014, for a fee of around £75m.
The Uruguayan made 283 appearances for the Spanish giants, scoring 195 goals, providing 113 assists, and totaling 23,850 minutes. As good as Nicolas Jackson has been for Chelsea this season, Guiu could add some extra potency up top for the Blues, becoming an option for Maresca to utilise.
Goals
0.48
0.66
Assists
0.00
0.25
xG
0.84
0.61
Progressive Carries
2.11
2.21
Progressive Passes
1.58
1.31
Shots Total
5.24
2.79
Goals/Shot
0.09
0.24
Key Passes
1.05
1.15
Touches (Att Pen)
6.84
5.57
Guiu is slightly more physical in the way he uses his upper body, whereas Jackson likes to be slightly more evasive with his, looking to avoid contact with agile movement and weave his way to the box. This extra physicality and box presence is what allows Guiu those extra penalty area touches (6.84).
When analysing the players’ metrics, their minutes do need to be taken into account, as Guiu has only managed 186 minutes so far this season, in comparison to Jackson, who has already played 1,100 minutes. Therefore, the per 90 metrics are slightly skewed.
The Senegalese forward’s all-round game and goal-scoring form has been superb this season, but sometimes the game needs a different type of forward. Chelsea are likely to address this in the transfer market at some stage, but could Guiu give Maresca an option for now, and even play his way into the plans quicker than expected.
Forget Guiu: Chelsea gem with 101 touches deserves the limelight
Chelsea’s youngsters got the job done in freezing temperatures against Astana.
2 ByConnor HoldenDec 12, 2024
