In total in all competitions, the Blues played 59 games, four more than the previous season but four less than the campaign prior to that, 2018/19, when we won the Europa League.In 2020/21, the Blues won 34 of the 59 games with 14 draws and 11 defeats.

When combining starts and substitute appearances together, there was one Chelsea player clear as having played the most of those 59 games. Mason Mount appeared in 54 of them.

Timo Werner was next with 52, then N’Golo Kante on 48, closely followed by Reece James with 47. Then come two of the new signings, Kai Havertz 45 and Edouard Mendy 44, before the seventh highest total is shared by the captain and vice-captain and by Christian Pulisic, who joined Cesar Azpilicueta and Jorginho on 43 appearances.

If we look only at the number of starts players had in games then Azpi is higher up in the ranking, third with 40 starts, and Ben Chilwell comes into the top four on 39. Mount with 48 and Werner with 44 are still the highest two.

Minutes on the pitch

When exact playing time combined is calculated, Mendy moves above Werner into second place, having played 4,155 of the 5,637 maximum minutes possible. Mount played 4,460 of them. That’s 79 per cent.

Substitutions

Looking at the players who were the most subbed on and the most subbed off in 2020/21…

The stats

Appearances this season including subsMount 54, Werner 52, Kante 48, James 47, Havertz 45, Mendy 44, Azpilicueta 43, Jorginho 43, Pulisic 43, Chilwell 42, Kovacic 42, Ziyech 39, Hudson-Odoi 37, Zouma 36, Rudiger 34, Thiago Silva 34, Abraham 32, Giroud 31, Christensen 27, Alonso 17, Emerson 15, Arrizabalaga 14, Gilmour 11, Tomori 4, Anjorin 3, Barkley 3, Caballero 2, Loftus-Cheek 1Appearances this seasonMount 48+6, Werner 44+8, Mendy 44, Azpilicueta 40+3, Chilwell 39+3, Jorginho 38+5, Kante 34+14, James 34+13, Thiago Silva 33+1, Zouma 32+4, Rudiger 32+2, Kovacic 31+11, Havertz 29+16, Pulisic 25+18, Christensen 24+3, Ziyech 23+16, Hudson-Odoi 19+18, Abraham 18+14, Alonso 15+2, Arrizabalaga 13+1, Giroud 12+19, Gilmour 8+3, Emerson 7+8, Tomori 2+2, Caballero 2, Anjorin 1+2, Barkley 1+2, Loftus-Cheek 1

Minutes on pitchMount 4,460, Mendy 4,155, Werner 4,018, Azpilicueta 3,717, Chilwell 3,545, James 3,532, Jorginho 3,484, Kante 3,379, Zouma 3,140, Rudiger 3,132, Thiago Silva 2,897, Kovacic 2,836, Havertz 2,666, Pulisic 2,633, Christensen 2,298, Ziyech 2,007, Hudson-Odoi 1,960, Abraham 1,650, Arrizabalaga 1,389, Alonso 1,336, Giroud 1,300, Emerson 849, Gilmour 740, Tomori 246, Caballero 188, Barkley 138, Anjorin 119, Loftus-Cheek 65

Players substitutedWerner 22 from 44 starts, Ziyech 21/23, Havertz 18/29, Kovacic 18/31, Mount 16/48, Hudson-Odoi 14/19, Pulisic 12/25, Jorginho 12/38, Giroud 11/12, Abraham 9/18, Chilwell 8/39, Thiago Silva 6/33, Kante 6/34, Azpilicueta 6/40, Alonso 5/15, Christensen 3/24, Gilmour 2/8, Anjorin 1/1, Loftus-Cheek 1/1, Zouma 1/32, James 1/34, Mendy 1/44, Barkley 0/1, Caballero 0/2, Tomori 0/2, Emerson 0/7, Arrizabalaga 0/13, Rudiger 0/32

Unused substitutesArrizabalaga 39, Emerson 27, Giroud 25, Caballero 24, Alonso 20, Gilmour 19, Zouma 19, Rudiger 17, Azpilicueta 16, Hudson-Odoi 16, Abraham 14, Chilwell 13, Jorginho 13, Christensen 11, Tomori 10, James 8, Ziyech 7, Werner 6, Havertz 5, Anjorin 4, Kovacic 4, Mendy 4, Ziger 4, Pulisic 3, Barkley 2, Kante 2, Livramento 2, Mount 2, Thiago Silva 2, Bate 1, Baxter 1