26/04 - 20:00
After Frank Lampard gave world record goalkeeping signing Kepa one final chance to start the season, the Spaniard dropped the ball literally and figuratively once again.
Lampard was at his wits end with the £72 million signing and decided to act quickly, purchasing Rennes’ Édouard Mendy for £22 million, to try and put a stop to the chaos.
Since then Kepa’s made more errors embarrassingly at fault again during a 3-3 draw with Southampton, and Chelsea have even courted more keeper controversy by naming the retired Premier League legend, Petr Cech, in their 25-man league squad.
But amongst the drama, Mendy has racked up four starts for Chelsea, letting just a single goal past him in a 1-1 shoot-out loss to Tottenham in the League Cup, keeping three clean sheets along the way.
The stats were already good for Mendy before his arrival, having won France’s Ligue 2 in his first season as a starter for Reims in 2017/18, his one and only campaign for Rennes last season made headlines as he backstopped his side to their first ever Champions League finish.
That third place saw Mendy concede just 0.79 goals per game in a shortened season, which may sound impressive in and of itself, but when you compare against the other names in the top six it really starts to stand out.
🛡️Best goals against per 90 minutes rates (UEFA's top 5 leagues; 2019/20):
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) September 23, 2020
0.59🧤: Thibaut Courtois
0.67🧤: Predrag Rajkovic
0.72🧤: Jan Oblak
0.79🧤: 🔵EDOUARD MENDY🔵
0.81🧤: Alisson Becker
0.82🧤: Ederson Moraes#CFC pic.twitter.com/uLKxvMIsrs
OK, no one is expecting you to have heard of Predrag Rajković, but Mendy finished with numbers ahead of a terrific season for Alisson Becker, and not far off who many consider the best in the world, Jan Oblak, who plays for an overly defensive side.
There’s also this season too, where Mendy has yet to concede in his two league games, one against Manchester United, while he held off Sevilla in the Champions League, one of Europe’s finest sides.
🥅Best #PL clean sheet percentages:
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) October 26, 2020
100%🛡️: 🔷EDOUARD MENDY🔷
60%🛡️: Emiliano Martinez
50%🛡️: Rui Patricio, Alex McCarthy
33%🛡️: Illan Meslier, Kaspoer Schmeichel, Łukasz Fabiański#CFC pic.twitter.com/rkWx003PUA
The defence in front of him has also seemed more assred too, with a dodgy pass across his goal line at the weekend already seemingly uncharacteristic for Mendy, who pulled off three solid saves against a United side who had the better chances.
And that’s reflected in the numbers, Mendy’s faced nine shots on target this season in his four games, while the disastrous Kepa had faced 14 in three, with Frank Lampard’s delight at his defence’s improvement clear, despite looking slightly drab going forward against United and Sevilla.
It’s clearly very early to make any sweeping judgments on Mendy, but Senegal’s number one was already highly rated before his arrival in England, and appears to have started where he left off.
And while Kepa was completely crushed by his record breaking £72 million fee, Mendy may well have found himself in the perfect position when it comes to pressure, with one scare against United at the weekend seemingly the exception that proves the rule in an otherwise flawless start.
