Hakim Ziyech is set to miss out once again as Chelsea prepare to face Aston Villa, less than 48 hours after their defeat at London rivals Arsenal.
Chelsea have now lost three of their last four matches in the Premier League and their downturn in form has coincided with the absence of the Moroccan winger.
As pressure on Frank Lampard begins to build, how pivotal is it for the Chelsea boss to have his summer signing back in action for his side?
A 17-game unbeaten streak has taken away attention from Chelsea’s evident weaknesses without Ziyech.
The Blues started the season with merely two wins from their opening five matches after the Moroccan summer signing was injured in a pre-season friendly against Brighton.
The 27-year-old eventually made his full debut in the Premier League against Burnley in which he scored and got an assist in a comfortable 3-0 victory at Turf Moor.
The Moroccan has gone on to record a total of four goal contribution in just 390 minutes of Premier League action.
It does not take a footballing expert to see that Chelsea are missing one of their most crucial components in order to be able to produce the form that many expect of them.
However, it is only until you look into the numbers that the Blues produce with and without Ziyech to see just how vital he is to Lampard’s game plan.
When the 27-year-old has featured for Chelsea, they have scored 19 goals at an average of 2.38 goals per game.
In comparison, when the Chelsea boss has not been able to field the Moroccan, the Blues have scored 25 goals but at an average of just 1.79 per game.
Critics could claim that this is just down to Chelsea being less clinical in converting chances, especially with fellow summer signing Timo Werner having a torrid time in front of goal recently.
However, the stats further shows the importance of Ziyech for the Blues.
With the Moroccan, Chelsea have averaged 11.75 shots per match and five shots on target per game. Resulting in a shots-to-goal conversion rate of 20 per cent.
Contrastingly, without the 27-year-old, the west London club have averaged 11.57 shots-per-match and 4.42 shots on target-per-game. Ultimately, this gives them a conversion rate of 15.4 per cent and makes 4.6 per cent less efficient in front of goal without the former Ajax man.
Furthermore, this drop in efficiency is visible through Chelsea’s results in the Premier League and the Champions League.
The Blues have only won 48 per cent of the points available to them, when Ziyech has not started (winning five, drawing five and losing four).
Whereas when Lampard has started the Moroccan, they have gone on to win 86 per cent of the points available to them and are yet to lose (winning six, drawing once and losing none).
Clearly, Ziyech possesses a touch of classiness and guile that his team are desperately searching for, especially when he is unavailable.
Frank Lampard will know this, hence why he was so eager to make the Moroccan his first signing for the club.
They say ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ and Chelsea fans will be desperate to have their new talisman fit and ready to play. That goes none more so than Lampard, with a section of fans beginning to question whether he is the right man to bring success back to the Bridge.
In the unforgiving career of management, the fixtures are coming thick and fast especially during this festive period and injuries will not be a valid excuse for the English manager.
He needs to start winning again and regularly.
This starts with the home fixture against an in-form Aston Villa, in which Lampard has confirmed he will start Callum Hudson-Odoi, as one of the many expected changes, after being visibly angry at the performance from his side on Boxing Day.
By Sajidur Rahman
