Chelsea 0-0 Southampton: Three Key Players

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 02: Marcos Alonso of Chelsea and Antonio Ruediger of Chelsea battle for posession with Nathan Redmond of Southampton during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Southampton FC at Stamford Bridge on January 2, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /

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LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 02: Yan Valery of Southampton during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Southampton FC at Stamford Bridge on January 2, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

Yan Valery

Youth ruled the day for Southampton and the Frenchman played a huge role in that. All day, the 19-year-old had to deal with one, Eden Hazard. A task, many defenders have failed at and many more to come will as well.

The Belgian was able to create a few opportunities for himself and create space to get some shots off but the day was ultimately the young Frenchman’s. Valery, did a superb job containing Hazard as best he could and any day the winger does not get a goal or an assist is a victory for the opposition.

He did not allow Hazard to dribble past him on the outside but instead forced him to cut inside where help was waiting for him, usually in the form of Nathan Redmond and Jan Bednarek. He did all that was asked of him and he is really looking to be our right-back of the future.