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October was a pretty good month for Chelsea in the Premier League. Xabi Alonso and his side only lost one game.
They were beaten 2-0 by Tottenham Hotspur, which was a bad defeat. However, the Blues picked up wins against Manchester United, Everton and Bournemouth.
Heading into Sunday’s match away at Sunderland, Chelsea sit fourth in the table on 16 points. Pedro Neto helped Alonso’s team to have a strong October, and that has not gone unnoticed.
In four games, Neto scored two goals and provided one assist. His form has now seen him win a place in Opta Analyst’s Premier League Team of the Month for October, which is based on FotMob’s player ratings. Neto’s former teammate at Chelsea, Nicolas Jackson, also made the cut.
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The Aston Villa striker has scored three goals in his last two league games. In total, he has scored five goals in eight top-flight appearances.
Joao Pedro has received a lot of praise this season, but Jackson has now matched him for goals in the Premier League. With Pedro out injured, Chelsea could do with Jackson right now.
In his absence, Alonso has used Neto and Morgan Rogers up front, but that has not quite worked. Neto has been at his best playing in the right wing-back position.
It will be interesting to see what happens when Pedro returns. The Brazilian will regain his place in the starting XI, meaning one of Neto or Estevao Willian will have to drop out.
It would be harsh on Neto, who has shown a lot of improvement under Alonso. He is already on three goals for the season. Last term, the 26-year-old only netted five times in 34 appearances.
His goals per 90 right now is 0.40 compared to 0.17 in the previous campaign, according to FotMob. His xG has also gone up, so Neto has improved his goal threat under Alonso.
After Estevao’s impressive performance against United, though, Neto is at risk of losing his place in the side. At some stage, you can easily imagine Alonso going with an attack of Estevao, Pedro, Rogers and Cole Palmer.