Joao Pedro's hat-trick carried Chelsea to victory at Villa Park and earned him Premier League Player of the Matchweek honors. He's now hoping to do the same in Paris.
Last time out in the Premier League, Chelsea secured a hugely important three points away to Aston Villa with a statement 4-1 victory, hugely boosting the team's chances of qualifying for next seasons UEFA Champions League.
It was not all plain sailing. The hosts took the lead early on and thought they had again not long before the break, before VAR intervened due to an offside. That helped Liam Rosenior's side gain confidence, and they were able to pick their counterparts off after that.
The win was hugely down to the performance of Joao Pedro, who netted a hat-trick and assisted Cole Palmer's goal. The Brazilian has been pretty consistent for most of the season, but he has gone up another level since the arrival of Rosenior.
Although there are some similarities to the style of play under Enzo Maresca, Chelsea feels a bit more direct and vertical now. In this system, Pedro can be consistently fed chances between the posts.
As a result of his performance against Villa, the 24-year old has been recognised by the Premier League by officially winning the Player of the Matchweek award, beating some strong contenders to claim the prize.
Just simply a man full of confidence at the moment. This was shown once again at the weekend, when he scored in the 125th minute in the win over Wrexham to ensure the team's place in the quarter finals of the FA Cup.
Ideally, he would not have to had to play 35 minutes before a crucial Champions League first leg clash away to PSG, and would have had a day of complete rest, but well, he did not have to batter through 90 minutes ahead of the game.
No doubt about it. Rosenior will need his number nine at his best on Wednesday. He is crucial to Chelsea's chances of going through. We have seen PSG look very vulnerable defensively of late - they conceded three goals at home to Monaco last time out - there will be opportunities for Pedro to punish the Parisians.
We saw in the Club World Cup final what he and Cole Palmer were able to do to their defence, so let's hope that bodes well for Wednesday night. This is certainly not at the same level as the PSG side that won the competition last year. Chelsea does not need to be fearful of their hosts. Let's see.
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