Ben Chilwell was a standout in the early stages of last season until an injury cut his FPL campaign short.
He played in an attacking wing-back position, similar to Reece James, regularly scoring and supplying assists.
This article examines whether you should purchase Chilwell for your teams at the price of £6.0m.
Chilwell 2021/22
Last season, Ben Chilwell appeared in 7 games for Chelsea, scoring three times and assisting once.
In those appearances, he amassed an impressive 55 FPL points. This equates to nearly an average of 8 points a game!
After suffering an injury in GW12, Chilwell did not return to action until a cameo in GW38.
Chilwell led all defenders in goals per 90 minutes. He scored 0.5 goals per 90 minutes, which despite being over a small sample, is still incredible.
With a point every 9.9 minutes, Chilwell also had the greatest FPL points per minute ratio among defenders.
Prior to injury derailing his outstanding start to the season, the flying wing-back averaged nine points per start.
Chilwell ranked second in goal attempts per 90 minutes (2.15), trailing only Joao Cancelo. He did, however, top efforts inside the box with 1.65 per 90.
Premium Defender Comparison
The below table compares the premium defender options in FPL 2022/23. The number circled is the player’s rank in this list on the particular statistic.
| Player | Minutes Played per Start | Goals per 90 | Assists per 90 | Attacking Returns per 90 | Goal Attempts per 90 | Expected Assists per 90 | Expected Goals per 90 | Average Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Chilwell | 90 [1] | 0.50 [1] | 0.17 [5] | 0.66 [2] | 2.15 [2] | 0.12 [5] | 0.16 [2] | 2.57 |
| Reece James | 81 [5] | 0.24 [2] | 0.43 [1] | 0.67 [1] | 1.77 [3] | 0.23 [2] | 0.17 [1] | 2.14 |
| Trent Alexander-Arnold | 89.2 [3] | 0.06 [4] | 0.38 [3] | 0.44 [4] | 1.61 [4] | 0.41 [1] | 0.09 [4] | 3.29 |
| Joao Cancelo | 89.6 [2] | 0.03 [5] | 0.31 [4] | 0.33 [5] | 2.26 [1] | 0.18 [4] | 0.14 [3] | 3.43 |
| Andrew Robertson | 87.6 [4] | 0.11 [3] | 0.39 [2] | 0.50 [3] | 0.64 [5] | 0.20 [3] | 0.06 [5] | 3.57 |
It’s surprising to see that the less expensive defenders (James and Chilwell) rank top statistically among premium defenders. This demonstrates how aggressive Tuchel’s wing-backs play.
With that said, it should be noted that TAA, Robertson, and Cancelo seem to be less injury prone.
Read More: Best Budget Defenders for FPL 2022/23
Meanwhile, Chilwell’s data is obviously based on a limited sample size, which must be considered. James, on the other hand, played the majority of the season.
The former Leicester man appears to be more of a goal threat rather than an assist threat, which is beneficial for FPL because goals yield more points than assists.
Awkward Chelsea Fixtures
- GW1 – Everton (a)
- GW2 – Tottenham (H)
- GW3 – Leeds (a)
- GW4 – Leicester (H)
- GW5 – Southampton (a)
- GW6 – West Ham (H)
Chelsea’s fixtures aren’t particularly appealing. Compared to Manchester City and Liverpool, their schedule is far worse.
However, they only face one of last season’s top six in Tottenham, and they have extremely favourable away matchups to begin the season. These games should not deter FPL managers from investing in Chelsea assets.
Pick Chilwell?
At a price of just £6.0m, Chilwell provides a very tempting option for FPL managers.
He has a decent schedule to begin the season, as well as strong underlying statistics that put him ahead of Andrew Robertson and Joao Cancelo.
Read More: Should You Pick Ivan Perisic in FPL 2022/23
The statistics indicate that selecting Chilwell is a sensible decision because of the aforementioned stats.
Furthermore, Chilwell is priced very reasonably at £6.0m which means should he start the season well, he could quickly become a must-have.
