Everton 0–2 Chelsea was the week's real result
Pedro Neto scored twice and Chelsea kept a Premier League clean sheet for the first time this season (2) (13). Jorrel Hato made the opening goal (23). That is the headline of the week, not the scoreline itself.
Fourth in the table. Thirteen points from seven games. Away at Everton, in the early kickoff, with the kind of afternoon that has ruined Chelsea's autumn in each of the last two seasons. This time they walked off with nothing conceded.
Xabi Alonso's line afterwards was not the usual manager shrug. He said they knew that (13). Read it plainly: the soft-touch tag was never a mystery to the coaching staff, it was a problem they had a plan for. Saturday was the first time the plan showed up in the scoreline.
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The goalkeeper is gone, and the schedule is not kind
Emiliano Martinez fractured his jaw at Goodison, colliding with Jarrad Branthwaite as he went to punch a free kick clear. He lost consciousness, was carried off on a stretcher, and had surgery (3) (8). He has been discharged and is already talking about a return in weeks (2) (5) (7).
"In a few weeks we'll be back," he said. Chelsea need Mike Penders to be competent long before then (3).
That is the cost of the clean sheet. The first-choice keeper is out, in a week when the defence finally looked like a unit. Penders inherits a back line with an actual clean sheet to its name, which is more than Martinez was given for most of September.
Neto is the answer to a question nobody can finish
Alonso refused to name Neto's position. "You can call him whatever, winger, wing-back, attacker, defender, because he can do many things," he said after the brace (4).
That is not a manager dodging. It is the reason Neto starts every week. When a side is missing pieces in three different areas of the pitch, the one player who can fill all three is worth more than his goal tally. Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer sit in the same attacking picture (4), and Neto is the one moving around them.
Six past Tottenham, and a chase at the top
Chelsea Women beat Tottenham 6–2 at Stamford Bridge in the WSL, Lauren James and Ellie Carpenter scoring twice each (1) (11). Matilda Vinberg scored for Tottenham and it changed nothing (1). The win keeps Chelsea Women second, chasing Manchester City (11).
Two teams, one weekend, six goals against the same opponent's badge. The men get their own shot at Tottenham on Saturday.
January is already being priced
Chelsea are weighing an €80m return for Bournemouth's Alex Scott as a midfield replacement for Enzo Fernandez, having stopped short of £68m in the summer (12). A reported double move for Jules Koundé and Frenkie de Jong would cost £107m (28) (30). Florian Wirtz is said to want to stay at Liverpool (26) (29).
None of that is a plan. It is a shopping list with three different price tags on the same problem. The midfield question does not get answered in October, but the number attached to it is climbing.
What to watch
Tottenham at home, Saturday, Oct 24, 18:30 CEST. Penders starts in goal, and Arsenal are monitoring Josh Acheampong while Chelsea try to extend his contract (21). The keeper is the story until further notice.
