Chelsea nightmare: Staggering Emi Martinez stat piles pressure on Mike Penders

Emi Martinez’s injury is a real blow to Chelsea. Just as they keep their first Premier League clean sheet and begin to look defensively solid, Martinez is ruled out until December.

Martinez suffered a broken jaw at the end of Chelsea’s win over Everton on Saturday. In the evening, he was undergoing surgery at Aintree Hospital, and reports say Martinez will be missing for 40 days.

That means the World Cup winner will miss six games, starting with this weekend’s clash against rivals Tottenham, and then Liverpool in the Cup. But one alarming Martinez stat piles the pressure on Penders.

Penders came on against Everton and played a key role as Chelsea saw the game out, ending a run of 22 Premier League games without a clean sheet. Now, Penders will have a few weeks as first choice in goal.

He might have already been in line to start against Liverpool next week, but not Tottenham. Stuart Pearce was impressed with Penders when he came on against Everton, but underlined the pressure on him.

That pressure will get even bigger when Penders realises Martinez is the best in the Premier League for shots saved per 90 minutes. Martinez is averaging 4.3 saves per 90 minutes, making a total of 25 saves.

That’s better than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League, even if he missed Chelsea’s opener – the 3-2 loss at Fulham that convinced Alonso to get rid of Robert Sanchez and bring Martinez to Cobham.

Penders became Chelsea’s youngest-ever Premier League goalkeeper on Saturday, beating Lenny Pidgeley’s record by two weeks. If the pressure wasn’t already massive, this week is Alonso’s biggest.

Chelsea have four games to play before the next international break. Tottenham and Man United at home in the league, with Liverpool away at Anfield in the Carabao Cup coming in between those matches.

Three enormous games for Alonso, with Chelsea more than capable of winning all three – but losing all three, too. The pressure on Penders is huge. But will the Belgian sink or swim? Only time will tell.