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#4 Antonio Rudiger
The German defender lost his place to Garry Cahill several times last season even though Chelsea spent a huge €35 million to get him in 2017. However, he has gradually risen to prominence since and now becoming one of the fans's favorite players.
He is one of only a few players that have adapted seamlessly to Sarri's highly-offensive system. He is a reliable defender who rarely makes mistakes due to his impressive passing accuracy and has a great sense of leadership.
He has completed an outstanding 91.4 percent of his deliveries on average in all competitions. His pinpoint passes and efficient defending has helped Chelsea a lot in building their attacks smoothly from the back.
His traits have also made Chelsea a lethal counterattacking threat to a more dominant opposition. Unfortunately, his overall defensive stats are somewhat abysmal and, there are more complete Chelsea players who deserve to be above him on this list.
#3 Cesar Azpilicueta
The Spaniard has been pretty much the heartbeat for Maurizio Sarri's side this season. He has almost featured in all of Chelsea's matches and doing the dirty work for the highly-offensive Sarri team. His defensive stats have far surpassed Rudiger and David Luiz who used to be Chelsea's main center back despite the Spaniard playing as a fullback.
He has recorded a solid 2.6 tackles and 1.1 intercepts per game in the Premier League, including 13 tackles against Manchester City at the Stamford Bridge in December. Aside from his resolute defending, he has also impressed in attacks as he has been directly involved in 5 league goals and delivered 87.4 percent of his passes on average.
A complete defender who consistently excels at both attack and defense throughout the season, Azpilicueta surely deserves to be considered as one of the strongest candidates for player of the year award.
