Right, so today I was itching to break down that Chelsea vs Leeds clash from last weekend. Felt like diving into the key player stats sounded fun. Grabbed my laptop, fired up a spreadsheet, and started scribbling notes like crazy.
First Step: Picking the Players
Went straight for the obvious names. For Chelsea it had to be:
- Palmer – dude’s been cooking lately
- Sterling – always causes chaos on the wing
- Gallagher – runs like a madman all game
Leeds side? Easy picks:
- Summerville – their danger man
- Rutter – silky smooth operator
- Gray – kid’s got guts in midfield
The Hunt for Numbers
Hopped between a few football stat sites I usually check – took ages cause some had wonky data. Wanted raw stuff like:
- Shots attempted
- Passes into danger zones
- Tackles won
- Dribbles completed
Got mad when Leeds players had missing stats on one site. Had to cross-check three different places before I believed the numbers.
Spreadsheet Wrestling
Dumped all the messy data into Excel. Colors everywhere – blue for Chelsea, white for Leeds. Started lining up head-to-heads:
Palmer vs Summerville: Both took 4 shots but Palmer’s passing accuracy crushed it (88% vs 71%). Summerville though? Beat 5 defenders dribbling! Wild.
Sterling vs Gray: My guy Sterling got tackled 3 times by that teenager Gray. Embarrassing! But Sterling made 3 key passes so whatever.
Gallagher vs Rutter: Gallagher ran 12km – animal mode! But Rutter? Made 6 progressive carries against him. Unexpected.
The “Aha!” Moment
Kept staring at Gallagher’s heatmap compared to Rutter’s. Realized Gallagher’s constant running left gaps that Rutter exploited. That explained Leeds’ second goal! Felt smart for five whole minutes.
Final Tally
Made this dorky comparison table eventually:
- Goal involvements: Chelsea 3 – 2 Leeds
- Successful dribbles: Leeds 14 – Chelsea 9
- Tackles in final third: Leeds 7 – Chelsea 4
Kinda showed why Leeds pushed them so hard despite losing. Finished by slapping a chart together before my coffee went cold.
Ended up spending three damn hours on this. Wife called me a stat-nerd but whatever – numbers don’t lie! Leeds’ young guns actually out-performed Chelsea’s stars in sneaky ways. Might do Arsenal vs Wolves next Tuesday if I’m not buried in laundry.