Chelsea continued their charge for the Premier League title with a 2-1 win over Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Sunday night.
Goals from Mark Cucurella and Nicholas Jackson ensured Chelsea closed the gap on leaders Liverpool to two points and secured victory. Blues win five consecutive league games.
Chelsea dominated the game in all aspects, the game was very fluid, Created 26 goal attempts Eight of them are testing Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flecken.
Full-back Cucurella was impressive in this game, scoring himself and posing a constant threat down the home side’s left despite being sent off late on.
However, the full-back on the right side of Chelsea’s defense has attracted interest from other title rivals.
Chelsea star attracts attention from Liverpool
Malo Gusto arrives at Chelsea from Lyon in January 2023, according to reports £30.75m deal. The French defender has impressed since arriving and has already scored Made 13 appearances for the club this season, Provided an assist in Chelsea’s 5-1 win over Southampton Early December.
Gasteau’s stellar early-season form has attracted interest from a number of top clubs and it appears one title rival is ready to firm up their interest in January.
According to CaughtOffside, Liverpool are considering raiding the full-back Replacing the likely outgoing Trent Alexander-Arnold. England defender Alexander-Arnold’s contract expires this summer and has been linked with moves to European giants Real Madrid and Premier League champions Manchester City.

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At the moment, Chelsea appear to have no interest in selling Gusteau, who has proven himself to be a quality young talent under Enzo Maresca, but that may not stop Liverpool from testing the waters in the upcoming window.
Losing Gusteau would be a huge blow to Chelsea’s title hopes as they will be without a regular first-team defender and are just two points adrift of the teams they are chasing.
Let’s just hope this doesn’t become a repeat of Salah’s mistakes, with the Egyptian departing Stamford Bridge after just 19 games with the first team before moving on to the first team. Liverpool Reds scored 227 times.
Why losing Marlo Gusteau would be a mistake for Chelsea
If Chelsea lose Gusteau to Liverpool, it won’t be the first time they regret losing a player to Liverpool. Salah is currently the Premier League’s top scoreralso played at Stamford Bridge.
Another reason for Chelsea fans to hope this transfer won’t go through is the injury record of potential Gusteau replacement Reece James. James is the captain of Chelsea FC, but his health has been poor throughout his career.
Incredibly, since the start of the 2023/24 season, James has missed 56 games for Chelsea Injury, currently sidelined with a hamstring injury.

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The defender has endured several difficult seasons at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea fans used to dread news of their captain’s injury as he was an important player for the club, but since Gusteau’s arrival he has become a more than adequate replacement.
Marlo Gusteau VS Reece James 2024/25 | ||
---|---|---|
State (per 90 people) | Gusteau | james |
Minutes played | Chapter 956 | Chapter 241 |
progressive pass | 5.47 | 2.96 |
Tackle wins | 19 | 2 |
Building Blocks | 18 | 4 |
cross | 30 | 15 |
points per game | 1.92 | 1.25 |
Statistics passed FB reference |
From the above data, it is obvious that the French defender is not only more reliable than James in terms of physical fitness, but also puts in more effort forward and defensively. Gasteau makes more progressive passes than his captain This season, he has provided more crosses to Chelsea’s powerful forward line.
A progressive pass is considered if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters from the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
Defensively, Gusteau also outperformed his positional opponents win more tackles And more blocks in defensive situations. Perhaps the most important statistic for Chelsea staff and fans is the lowest one, which is that Chelsea have scored more points under Gusteau than James.
If the west London side are serious about a title tilt this season, they won’t be able to afford to lose such talent – especially to their main title rivals.

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Chelsea eased past Brentford on Sunday night.