Chelsea star Reece James secured for himself an altogether impressive benchmark during the club’s meeting with Leicester City on Thursday.
Thomas Tuchel’s troops were of course back in action just shy of 24 hours ago.
Fresh off the back of finale heartbreak, on this occasion in the FA Cup, the Blues welcomed the aforementioned Leicester to Stamford Bridge, with sights set firmly on a bounce-back result.
When all was said and done, however, Chelsea were forced to make do with a share of the spoils, owing to a 1-1 stalemate.
It was Leicester who opened the scoring on the day, courtesy of James Maddison, before Marcos Alonso’s latest strike ensured that the evening’s hosts would not come away empty-handed.
Honours even.
🔵 1-1 🦊 | #CheLei pic.twitter.com/b8c3rMTg94
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 19, 2022
As alluded to above, though, it was Chelsea’s other starting wing-back on Thursday who in fact went on to turn heads post-match.
This came owing to a head-turning statistic coming to the fore online, highlighting Reece James’ stellar production in the attacking third across the campaign to date.
As per statisticians Opta, after teeing up Alonso’s equaliser, James became the first Chelsea player aged 22 or younger to rack up eight or more Premier League assists in a single season since Eden Hazard in 2012/13.
8 – Reece James has made eight assists for Chelsea in the Premier League this season; the most by a player 22 or under in a single campaign for the Blues since Eden Hazard in 2012-13. Crisp. pic.twitter.com/9xXH1S3pqy
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 19, 2022
Hornets up next
Turning attentions back towards the road ahead, Chelsea will of course close out what has proven an altogether disappointing campaign this weekend, when they welcome Championship-bound Watford to west London.
After surrendering their status as European champions, whilst slipping to defeat in the finals of both the League Cup and FA Cup, Tuchel’s troops are primed to finish 3rd in the Premier League table, potentially as many as 22 points adrift of the eventual champions.
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