Mike Penders is expected to be Chelsea’s primary goalkeeper amid Emiliano Martinez’s injury absence, and the Blues must address their biggest defensive issue to help the young shot-stopper.

Penders made his Premier League debut as a second-half substitute, replacing the injured Martinez during Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday.

Chelsea confirmed Martinez fractured his jaw from a collision on the pitch, and while he had successful surgery, he is expected to be sidelined for a while to recover.

Penders is therefore likely going to have to defend Chelsea’s goal in the next four games, against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Sunderland, before the November international break.

The 21-year-old is touted to be Chelsea’s next long-term number one, but there is a reason he is still the number two behind Martinez. He has very limited experience at the top level.

While Chelsea’s improved defensive record, having conceded just one in the last two games since the previous international break, should raise Penders’ confidence, there remains a possibility that other teams may target him in the next few games, especially in set-piece situations.

The Blues have scored the joint-most set-piece goals (6) this season, but they have also conceded as many (6), the most in the Premier League, from these situations. 

Penders is slightly taller than Martinez and is actually quite comfortable dealing with high crosses. He claimed 22 high crosses in Ligue 1 for Strasbourg last season, with a 100 per cent success rate.

Obviously, these are from open-play situations, in which he was not surrounded by so many bodies inside the box. Especially in the Premier League, where the trend is to obstruct goalkeepers from neutralising set pieces with high claims.

Penders himself has already conceded a set-piece goal this season. In the 6-3 Carabao Cup win over Leeds United last month, Tarik Muharemovic put a header past Penders from a corner-kick situation to open the scoring.

To put it into perspective, the Belgium international conceded six set-piece goals throughout his loan spell in France, the joint-fourth-lowest in the competition, so he is not exactly bad at these.

Sooner or later, Penders will have to learn to deal with these Premier League set-piece routines if he is to become Chelsea’s long-term number one, as many expect. That said, Chelsea set-piece coach Austin MacPhee and the defenders must also help him as much as they can while he adapts to Premier League football.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Penders is not immune to mistakes, which is understandable for such a young goalkeeper. He made four errors leading to shots last season for Strasbourg, three of which ended up in the back of his net.

On a more positive note, Penders’ exceptional ability to play with the ball could benefit Chelsea in the upcoming fixtures. His 86 per cent passing accuracy was significantly above his peers in Ligue 1 last season. Playing from the back becomes a lot easier when you have someone of his ability.