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Former Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole believes Saul Niguez should get more opportunities based on his display against Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup.
Saul started in what was only his seventh game for Chelsea across all competitions on Wednesday. He put in a stellar display as the Blues emerged 2-0 winners in the first leg of the semifinal at Stamford Bridge.
The Spaniard was part of a midfield two alongside Jorginho against Tottenham and was solid with his passing and movement.
Tottenham were thoroughly dominated by the Blues on Wednesday and Cole feels Saul’s performance against Spurs warrants more starts in the future. Speaking on Sky Sports, he said:
“I thought he played well. I think he had good balance with Jorginho in there, he had a little bit more license for freedom. Yes, he played in a two but he could go out into those wide areas a little more with Jorginho just sat a little bit.”
Cole added:
“In terms of his overall performance and the worries and concerns people had around him, he’s done enough tonight to warrant that he should get more opportunities. But ultimately, the two or three players in front of him are playing so well so it will be very tough to get into this team.”
Saul will hope for a better second half of the season at Chelsea
After signing for Chelsea over the summer, Saul struggled to make an impact whenever given a chance by Thomas Tuchel. The Spaniard found it hard to make the team regularly even when the likes of Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante were out injured.
The on-loan midfielder has failed to adapt to the pace of the Premier League and has started just twice in the process.
However, with more playing time in the coming weeks, he will hope to impress and play a bigger role for Chelsea. The Blues have a lot of games coming up as they will play in four competitions: the Premier League, EFL Cup, FA Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel will look to make use of his squad and will certainly hope Saul can replicate his performance against Tottenham in the coming weeks.
Chelsea will next face Chesterfield in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday (8 January). It remains to be seen if Saul will play a part with just a few days of recovery in between the two cup games.
