No one wanted to see Marc Cucurella leave Chelsea in the summer, but Jorrel Hato and Pep Chavarria have not done a bad job replacing him.

Hato and Chavarria are now Chelsea’s main two options for the left wing-back position following Cucurella’s move to Real Madrid. Hato started there in the Blues’ 2-0 victory over Everton last weekend, coming in for Chavarria.

Chavarria got the nod against Bournemouth the Saturday before but missed the trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium because of injury. Whether the 28-year-old is fit enough for the Tottenham Hotspur game remains to be seen, but going forward, who should be Chelsea’s No.1 left-wing back?

The case for Jorrel Hato

Even if Chavarria is back in time for Saturday’s London derby, many will feel that Hato deserves to keep his place after his performance against Everton. He showed a lot of improvement in the left wing-back position on the afternoon.

In the past, Hato has struggled there and at left-back. He is quick but has been beaten one-v-one, with not even his abundance of pace able to keep up with some of the wingers who have got past him.

However, against Everton, Hato was much more solid as Chelsea went on to keep their first Premier League clean sheet since January. Going forward, the 20-year-old also looked sharp.

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Hato was involved in Chelsea’s first goal after making a bursting run past Ainsley Maitland-Niles before his deflected ball found Pedro Neto, who calmly converted. As per FotMob, Hato has a 100% dribble success rate this season, completing 1.03 dribbles per 90 minutes.

In defence, the Dutchman is making 2.06 tackles per 90 minutes. He still looks more comfortable in central defence and his future is likely to be there, but Hato is proving to be quite a well-rounded wing-back.

The case for Pep Chavarria

Compared to Hato, Chavarria is the more natural option for the left wing-back role. The 5-1 win over Bournemouth was only his second start in the Premier League this season, but the Spaniard really impressed.

He set up one of Chelsea’s goals on the afternoon and worked relentlessly down the left flank. By the time the match was finished, Chavarria was top for distance covered per 90 minutes among Chelsea players.

His dribbling has not been as good as Hato’s, which is quite interesting given many view the Netherlands international as a central defender. The same can be said about Chavarria’s tackling.

As things stand, Chavarria only has a 50% dribble success rate after completing 0.30 dribbles per 90 minutes and is making 1.51 tackles per 90 minutes.

The fact that he does cover so much ground is a reason to play him, though. Chelsea’s running stats were poor last season, but there has been a big improvement there this term because of players like Chavarria.

Final Verdict

Many were worried after Cucurella left Chelsea. The World Cup winner is one of the best left-backs in the world, and it took a while before Chelsea eventually got Chavarria through the door.

Now that he is here, though, the left side of the Blues’ defence does not appear to be an issue. Chavarria and Hato have both put in good performances under Xabi Alonso.

Technically, Hato has too much quality to leave him on the bench. While the ex-Ajax star can improve defensively, what he has shown is that he can help start attacks by carrying the ball or passing it out. It has contributed to a couple of Chelsea’s goals in the current campaign and been a really useful tool.

After his display on Merseyside, for now, Alonso should leave him in the team. Hato could become a world-class defender in the future, and Alonso needs to find a way to get him into the side, whether that means playing him at left wing-back or centre-back.