Chelsea travels to Vicarage Road to face Watford in the Premier League on Monday night with Transfer deadline day signing, Olivier Giroud set for his Blues debut.
The Blues have the opportunity to go above Liverpool into third place should they secure a victory. Meanwhile, Watford is just three points above the drop zone.
The fixture could also feature debuts for Chelsea’s January signings Olivier Giroud and Emerson Palmieri.
Here, we look at the key statistics and match facts ahead of the clash including Giroud’s dominance in the air that only adds to Chelsea’s aerial threat.
Watford are winless in 13 matches against Chelsea in all competitions (D3 L10) since a 1-0 win in the Premier League in September 1999.
Basic STATS...
– That defeat is Chelsea’s only loss in their last eight visits to Vicarage Road in all competitions (W5 D2).
– This will be both Watford and Chelsea’s first matches on Monday since they played out a 4-3 thriller in May last year, won by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
– Chelsea’s 50-point tally after 25 games this season is 10 fewer than they’d won at this stage last season on their way to the title (60).
– Watford have 27 points from 25 games this season – they had won more at this stage in both 2016-17 under Walter Mazzarri (30) and 2015-16 under Quique Sánchez Flores (33).
– Olivier Giroud has started only one Premier League game this season (vs West Ham in December). Seven of his last nine goals in the competition have been as a substitute, including each of the last four in a row.
– Watford have won six points from 11 games since the start of December (W1 D3 L7) – the worst points tally of any Premier League side in this period.
– No side have attempted fewer shots on target in the Premier League since the start of December than Watford (28), while only Man City (81) have attempted more than Chelsea (80) in this period.
– Chelsea have scored a league-high 13 headed goals this season, while since his Premier League debut in August 2012, Olivier Giroud has scored the most headers in the competition (27).
– Richarlison has no goals and just one assist in his last 12 Premier League appearances for Watford, despite playing 1044 minutes in these games.
Statistics provided by Opta
