Incredible N'Golo Kante stats prove Chelsea midfielder is the league's most important player

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N'Golo Kante won his second Premier League title in a row last season as he helped guide Chelsea to the crown as even picked up a Player of the Year award for himself. Considering how few people had even heard of the French midfielder just two years ago, his rise to become one of the best players in the world in a usually unheralded position is all the more remarkable. The Blues have not yet recaptured the sparkling form that saw them win 13 games in a row in the league at one stage last season and part of that is down to the absence of Kante for a full month. Having played nearly every game of the last two seasons for Leicester and Chelsea, the Frenchman is now coming to terms with having to play more regularly with his team in European competition for the first time in his career. After a mixed start to the season, things started to unravel without Kante available and the stats back up what the fans already know: Chelsea are much stronger with Kante in the team. The Blues conceded 11 goals and claimed just seven points in the five games during Kante's October absence - good for an average of 2.2 goals conceded per game.

That run included a 2-1 defeat to a Crystal Palace side who had not scored in any of their previous seven league games before toppling Antonio Conte's side. For comparison, Chelsea have lost just two games all season from the 14 in which Kante has featured - the shock opening day 3-2 defeat to Burnley and September's 1-0 humbling against Manchester City. Since losing to the Clarets on the first day of the season, Chelsea have not conceded multiple goals in a game in which Kante has played and even with the Burnley loss they have let in a total of eight goals in 14 games with the Frenchman. That means opponents average 1.6 fewer goals per game when the former Leicester man plays, as the Blues managed just one of their nine clean sheets this season without him.