Welcome aboard the Moises Caicedo hype train, what took you so long? The Chelsea midfielder has been like this for a while now

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Ahead of Chelsea’s trip to face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday lunchtime - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - we look at the continued excellence of Moises Caicedo. The Ecuadorian has been brilliant for some time, but for some reason he really only started to get his flowers after Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Liverpool. Why is that?

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Video credit: SNTV

The message was clear after Chelsea’s dramatic 2-1 win over Liverpool: Estevao is going to be a special, special player, and Moises Caicedo has now become one.

Perhaps not exactly a hot take, but the framing around Caicedo was interesting.

It was that he had "arrived" or gone to a new level.

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The norm?

In the game against Liverpool, Caicedo was tremendous. He recovered the ball five times, completed two tackles and scored the thumping howitzer of an opening goal.

Ironically, Caicedo started the game quite slowly: he missed a couple of tackles and some of his passing was wayward.

But below is a map of Caicedo’s defensive actions against Liverpool courtesy of Opta. Not bad, right?

Moises Caicedo's defensive actions against Liverpool

Image credit: Opta

Here is one from earlier in the season in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Fulham, live on TNT Sports.

Moises Caicedo's defensive actions against Fulham

Image credit: Opta

And, as you can see, he was even more involved. His defensive brilliance is the norm, not the exception.

Again, here are heatmaps from the two above games, Liverpool first and Fulham second. We could show you them from every game, but suffice to say, this isn’t new for Caicedo.

Moises Caicedo's heat map v Liverpool (Oct 4)
Image credit: Opta

Moises Caicedo heat map v Fulham (Aug 30)
Image credit: Opta

Speaking after the win over Liverpool, Chelsea skipper Reece James said: "I’m not sure some people understand how good he is. He plays at another level."

And Caicedo plays at another level regardless of opponent.

From 'please help me' to a Kante clone

By his own admission, the start of Caicedo’s Chelsea career after his blockbuster move from Brighton – that saw him reject Liverpool – was tough.

Caicedo’s debut saw him come off the bench and lose the ball eight times, make a bad error that could have led to a goal, and then give away a penalty that led to West Ham’s third in a 3-1 loss.

"The beginning was tough for me, because you are at a big club, the price, you always have to win every game," Caicedo said in a press conference around a year after that debut.

"It was tough for me because when I was in Brighton, the pressure is less. At Chelsea, it is different. I felt a lot of pressure because you know the club, the history, the players who were there.

'I'm not the same Moises, please help me' - Caicedo reveals help from Pochettino

Video credit: SNTV

"A lot of people around me helped me - Mauricio [Pochettino, former Chelsea manager] and his staff. They were with me when I felt like I was not the same Moises.

"[I asked them] 'Please help me because I want to show my quality, my football.' They were with me. I have a person outside of the club who helped me a lot to get the pressure out of my mind."

The table below evidences Caicedo's improvement across the course of his debut season.

Moises Caicedo stats	Start of 2023/24 PL until New Year's Day (PL Rank)	From NYD to end of 2023/24 PL season (PL Rank)
Successful Passes	28	12
Tackles	=31	=7
Interceptions	=74	=14
Possession Won	=65	=5
Duels Won	=40	=13

That is a massive jump. Year-on-year, that would be impressive; to do that in-season is to paraphrase James, another level.

For the first few months of the season, Caicedo was a league average midfielder. From the turn of the year to the end of the campaign, he became a good midfielder, not great.

But comparing last season's numbers to the current campaign, there was a further step forward.

Moises Caicedo stats	2024/25 Premier League Rank	2025/26 Premier League Rank
Successful Passes	7	4
Tackles	5	1
Interceptions	=8	1
Possession Won	1	8
Duels Won	3	=11

Caicedo was great last season; an argument could be built to say he was the best in the league.

At the end of last season, Chelsea played, and won, the Conference League final against Real Betis.

Speaking on TNT Sports around the game, former Blues Joe Cole and Steve Sidwell were emphatic in their praise of Caicedo.

"He’s been absolutely brilliant." Cole said. "He’s come in with a massive price tag and I think it weighed heavily on him. Some players when they go to a club and they feel that extra responsibility they try to become something they’re not.

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"Between two boxes he’s the best midfielder in the league, he breaks up play, he wins balls he shouldn’t win, he plays through the lines. He’s the closest thing I’ve seen to N’Golo Kante and he’s only going to get better."

Sidwell agreed, saying "He’s been their best player by an absolute mile, he’s been their go-to player. He’s steady, he’s consistent, he’s their player of the season. He struggled last season and he came out and admitted it was tough and he’s now the best midfielder in the league, by a mile."

‘Closest thing I've seen to N'Golo Kante’ – Cole, Sidwell hail ‘best midfielder’ Caicedo

Video credit: TNT Sports

Why praise now?

So why has Caicedo been previously underappreciated by a broader audience?

Chelsea have been a wildly inconsistent team for all of Enzo Maresca’s time in charge, capable of magical highs and infuriating lows.

Throughout the madness, Caicedo has always been the consistent guiding light. Not a calming light but a hectic, chaotic, yet very effective one. Nothing has changed in that regard.

That is evidenced in the comparison between this and last season. Yes, there has been some improvement - albeit some of these numbers might be skewed as we're only seven games into the new season - but it is nothing so dramatic that it would immediately stand out via the eye test.

‘Majestic from Maresca’s side’ – Caicedo adds fourth to seal win for Chelsea

Video credit: TNT Sports

So, perhaps, the answer is simple: he is now scoring goals.

During his first two seasons in London, Caicedo scored two Premier League goals across 73 league games. In seven Premier League games this season he has scored three, including that rocket against the Reds.

Conceivably, in this day and age, that’s all Caicedo needed to finally get the wider recognition he richly deserves.

His captain, James maybe, summed it up best:

"The goal speaks for his qualities and how good he is."

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