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Despite playing in a side that dominated for 45 minutes at Villa Park on Saturday, Mykhailo Mudryk had very little to show for it. His highlights for the match came before the break even though Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down having controlled possession, and even then he won't want to see them again.

For much of the game after their calamitous start, Mauricio Pochettino's men enjoyed spells of prolonged territorial superiority. It didn't always result in much, but it was telling that Mudryk's impact still lacked in all areas.

Just days earlier away to Arsenal he often looked like a stranger to his own teammates, failing to find positions conducive to picking up the ball. When Chelsea lost it he was of little hindrance to the red shirts moving past him in a blur.

Starting his third Premier League game in a row, and a fourth in the last five, Mudryk has failed to take the chance afforded to him by Raheem Sterling's poor form and fitness problems. He has just one goal in ten league games in 2024, and that came from the bench.

Against Villa, Pochettino opted to stick with an attack-heavy lineup with Cole Palmer moving centrally, something slightly dictated to him by the absence of Enzo Fernandez until the end of the season leaving central midfield options short. Mudryk was peripheral to nearly everything.

On the left he had spacecreated for him by Marc Cucurella's inversion into midfield in a significant tactical shift. Rarely did he make this count, though.

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With the few times he did touch the ball — just 28 in the first half according to SofaScore —