Christian Pulisic made the most of his first start in an Premier League match since Aug. 31 as his team beat Burnley 4-2 on Saturday afternoon.

The American scored his first career EPL goal in the 21st minute, then added another just before halftime.

He made it a hat trick on a ridiculous header in the 56th minute. After a poor clearance of a corner by Burnley gave Mason Mount another chance, Mount’s perfect cross into the box found Pulisic, who used the back (!) of his head to beat Burnley keeper Nick Pope.

It was hard to say which of Pulisic’s goals was most impressive. On the first one, he took on multiple Burnley defenders, then managed to slide a low left-footed shot past all three of them, plus Pope, to make it 1-0. The opportunity was created by Pulisic, and he finished it himself. I give that goal a slight edge over his header.

‘@cpulisic_10 scored his first @PremierLeague goal today.

Then, the American wanted some more. Check out ⚽️⚽️⚽️from his hat-trick performance for @ChelseaFC. pic.twitter.com/U2awziddRU

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 26, 2019

The second goal Pulisic scored came with his right foot, again after an impressive display of dribbling. This time, though, he was the beneficiary of his shot’s fortunate deflection off a defender.

A career week

Pulisic’s heroics came three days after he came on late as a sub vs. Ajax on the road in the Champions League. All he did in that one was create the chance that became the game-winner with a strong move and a perfect pass into Michy Batshuayi.

Let’s just say that Pulisic has probably earned a spot in the Chelsea XI for at least the next few games. Frank Lampard certainly has his options up top, but he had to be thrilled with his results from the 4-2-3-1 he employed against Burnley, with Tammy Abraham as a striker and a five-man midfield. From left to right, Pulisic, Mount and Willian filled the attacking midfield positions.

Chelsea led 4-0 after 58 minutes on a strike from Willian before Burnley scored twice in garbage time to account for the final score.

Christian Pulisic had another strong showing off the bench for Chelsea today.

The American came on in the 64th minute for a struggling Mason Mount and immediately starting making an impact. He had a penetrating dribble into the box leading to a hockey assist for Marcos Alonso’s winning goal.

Pulisic has been dynamite today. But how could that be? I was informed he had the flu 😒😒😒 pic.twitter.com/TiRsXiqdBX

— Future USMNT (@FutureUsmnt) October 19, 2019

This coming off another bench appearance for Chelsea last match where he tallied an assist.

In all, Pulsic played 26 minutes. He got one shot off, completed 89% of his passes, and even won 2 aerials.

Credit to Pulisic for putting his USMNT struggles behind him.

Life at Chelsea hasn’t started in the most grandeur fashion for Christian Pulisic.

He finds himself reduced to the bench, with Frank Lampard trusting his academy disciples’ to get the job done instead. Failing to start with such a big price-tag over his head is inviting doubts, even though his manager has backed him to take time adapting to the Premier League’s intensity.

Nonetheless, Pulisic isn’t getting the playing time he–or his American fans–would like to see. This happened to him last season at Borussia Dortmund as Jadon Sancho emerged as the German squad’s top attacking option.

The good news for Pulisic is he’s not the first high-priced player to take time adapting to the Premier League. Liverpool’s defensive center-mid Fabinho struggled to earn minutes and find quality on the pitch early last season. He’s now one of the first names on the sheet.

Here are three things Pulisic can do to break into Chelsea’s starting XI.

1. Be More Clever With His Movement

While he might have all the technical skill in the world, Pulisic will never be able to win over Lampard unless he starts working harder. He can’t expect to be prioritized ahead of the others if he doesn’t display his work-rate in chasing down opponents, pressing them high up or intercepting possession in dangerous areas.

He must anticipate which opposition player to press or when to commit to challenges and win back possession. Perhaps he needs a dose of Mason Mount’s urgency in anticipating defenders’ frailties when distributing possession.

Moreover, rather than just trying to display his raw pace, he must be patient with moving into promising spaces so that those behind him can send him free through on goal. If he’s more relaxed and smarter in predicting the pockets of spaces to run into the final third, Pulisic should  get more involved in their attacks.

2. Link-Up Better With Abraham & Co

Of course, transitioning from the Bundesliga to the Premier League is no easy feat. Both leagues are different in terms of tactical styles, atmospheres as well as the competitive level. Pulisic can’t be blamed for taking his time, but he must start creating chemistry with Chelsea’s regulars upfront. On atop the list is the in-form Tammy Abraham, who’s scoring whenever he pleases in his breakout season.

The American International must work harder alongside him in training, getting to know his strengths & weaknesses thoroughly. If he creates that intuitive bond, there won’t be stopping him from supplying deadly passes for Abraham to finish. Not only Tammy, but he also must work on building partnerships with Mount, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante along with the full-backs.

Being able to connect better with them will help him build his way into getting into goal-scoring situations. If Pulisic wants to start regularly, he must synchronize himself to their quick-paced style and implement more finesse to his link-up play.

3. Start Operating More Centrally

So we all know that Christian Pulisic is naturally a winger. However, he has all the traits of being a successful playmaker or #10 for club & country. His creativity has really been amplified since joining Lampard’s side. In the modern-day tactics, wingers are compelled to move more centrally in a bid for try scoring or creating chances more often.

With Chelsea opting for overlapping wing-backs in Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta, it gives Puliisc enough freedom to roam into the middle. His impressive assist for Michy Batshuayi recently proves how slick his final-delivery is from central areas. Pulisic also boasts better expected assists per game than Chelsea’s regular attackers, which proves how distinctive his creative vision is.

Moreover, he could also make more penetrative runs inside the box and try taking more shots on goal to start scoring for the Blues. He could show off all he wants down the wing, but Pulisic’s real contribution is when operating through the middle which he should do to add another dimension to Chelsea’s attack.

Another match, another Christian Pulisic no-show.

The highly-touted American didn’t manage to get on the pitch again on Sunday, sitting out Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.

Pulisic has played in four of six Premier League matches this season, starting three. However, it’s been three matches since Pulisic has seen the field. He didn’t play last weekend vs Wolverhampton. He missed making his 2019-20 UEFA Champions League debut for Chelsea in their midweek loss to Valencia.

So why isn’t Christian Pulisic playing more?

Frank Lampard explains why Pulisic isn’t playing

After the Liverpool loss, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard explained why Pulisic isn’t playing. The long and the short of it is: he’s not ready and Lampard has better options.

Said Lampard:

“[Pulisic] wasn’t a victim of the injuries. I’ve got a squad to pick from. Before that he had played a few games. Willian has come back in and been sharp and looked good. I decided to go with Mason [Mount] today, because we needed to stay strong in midfield and play Mason high up the pitch. That is my choice to make. He will get ample opportunities. He is a young player as well as everyone is talking about Mason and Tammy and Fikayo. He is actually as young, if not younger, than some of them. His chances will come.”

Does Pulisic deserve to be playing more?

This is the more difficult question. On one hand, when you invest the kind of money Chelsea did on him, yeah, he should be playing as much as possible.

On the other, Lampard wasn’t in charge when that acquisition was made. And while Pulisic has been just fine, Lampard does have better options.

The three best statistical performers via WhoScored for Chelsea are all 21 and under. Tammy Abraham has been one of the Premier League’s best goal scorers this season. And Mason Mount has been one of the best players, period.

Ross Barkley is the best statistical and positional comp to Pulisic, and they’ve played the same number of games (Pulisic has played more minutes though).

Keep in mind, something similar happened to Pulisic last season at Borussia Dortmund. While struggling with nagging injuries, Jadon Sancho emerged as one of the Bundesliga’s best players completely outshined the American. He drastically cut in to Pulisic’s minutes. This doesn’t make Pulisic a poor player. But it illustrates he has a ways to go and must earn all of his minutes like anybody else.

And the reality is, Pulisic is getting reasonable amounts of playing time. Lampard has an enviable task of integrating and developing a wealth of young players. If hie manages it right, it’ll pay huge dividends for Chelsea in a couple of years.

It’s the question on all US soccer fans’ mind as the 2019-20 Premier League season is about to kick off: how will Christian Pulisic do for Chelsea?

Oddsmakers think he’ll do pretty damn good.

Pulisic is odds-on favorite to tally at least 10 goals and 10 assists, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Christian Pulisic Goal and Assist Prop Bets

Here are Christian Pulisic goal props:

Over 9.5 -134	Over 12.5 +320	Over 15.5 +1600
Over 17.5 +5000	Over 19.5 +15000

In 4 seasons at Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, Pulisic netted 13 goals (15 total in all competitions). Last season, Pulisic battled injuries and Jadon Sancho for playing time. In 924 minutes, he recorded 4 goals.

Scoring 5 goals, let alone 10, would be unprecedented for Pulisic. He’ll be more featured at Chelsea, is older and more skilled now, and has looked fantastic in preseason. But let’s temper our expectations here.

Also, Pulisic won’t be the featured penalty taker. That will likely fall on Ross Barkley. Not getting those 5-7 opportunities for taking one from the spot make hitting double digits all the less likely.

Here are Christian Pulisic assist props:

Over 9.5 -223	Over 12.5 +200	Over 15.5 +800
Over 17.5 +2500	Over 19.5 +7000

The most assists Pulisic recorded at BVB was 6…in 2016-17. 

However, if Pulisic is hitting the over on either of these, expect it to be on the assists. 

What can we expect from Pulisic?

If the preseason is any indication, Pulisic will be just fine at Chelsea. He’ll feature and do well. Expecting 10 and 10 from the 20 year old isn’t realistic. Not this year.

A 7 goal, 11 assist performance is more in line with reality. It would also be a helluva debut season.

Another preseason friendly, another solid Christian Pulisic performance.

Chelsea visited Borussia Monchengladbach today in a match that ended with a 2-2 draw.

Pulisic didn’t make the score sheet, as both Chelsea goals were converted penalties (one by Tammy Alexander, one by Ross Barkley).

However, he was very solid on ball, made a number of good turns, and was tidy in distribution. He was robbed on one big opportunity inside the box in the 29th minute. A few key passes just missed converting into goals. He was eventually subbed off in the 67th minute.

Here are all of his key moments from the game.