Wesley Fofana competes for the ball with an Ajax defender. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

6/6 aerial duels and the most dribbles on the pitch – Chelsea star makes superb return to action

Originally posted on Chelsea News | Last updated Nov 1, 2025 3:47 PM ET

Chelsea have squeezed past Tottenham with a 1-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and while Moises Caicedo was the man of the match, there were some other really good performances out there.

One in particular we liked came from Wesley Fofana, who played his first minutes since the Ajax game ten days ago. He was taken off with a few minutes to go after a really strong showing at the back.

Fofana’s strong showing hopefully signal of better things to come

The stats show just how solid he was – he won 9 duels, joint most on the pitch. He had a far higher success rate than Joao Pedro, who also won 9. The defender won all 6 of his aerial duels in a game where that was always going to be crucial.

Amazingly, Fofana also had 3 successful dribbles, the most in the match. Their two starting wingers – Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto – had just 2 between them.

Fofana’s 7.7 final rating from FotMob reflects his strong showing. Let’s hope he can stay fit and play a long string of Premier League. We all know he’s potentially our best central defender, and he can only improve with a solid run of games.

How long do we have to wait for a Fofana – Josh Acheampong duo to play 5 games together and get some chemistry?

In other news…

Garnacho was another player who was subbed off in this game, and he showed much more frustration than Fofana did. It was only minor, but it’s not what you want to see from a player ever really.

The Blues are ahead in the game because of Joao Pedro’s goal, which was created by some superb play from Moises Caicedo, who won 3 challenges to get the ball into Spurs’ box.

This article first appeared on Chelsea News and was syndicated with permission.

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