Chelsea must exploit weaknesses in Joe Hart’s game

Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has had his fair share of struggles this season. Most of them have been well-documented and scrutinised; most of them have led to the England international coming under increased pressure to deliver flawless performances all the time. Yet while Hart’s inconsistencies might have shown just general struggles at the back, they have also revealed a genuine flaw in his game — one that Chelsea should look to target this weekend.

Of the nine Premier League goals that Hart has conceded this year, five of them have come against his right hand side. Two of them have gone down the middle and two more down the left.

Given that we know one of those down the middle was a tap-in by Andreas Weimann and one down the left was a tap-in by Aron Gunnarsson after Hart had made an initial save, the disproportion of goals down the right is even more exposed.

Goals conceded by Joe Hart

However, the key comes in the fact that it’s not like teams are specifically targeting Hart’s right — putting more shots there intentionally, which is going to lead to more goals. Rather the contrary; Hart has had just seven shots on goal down the right-hand side, meaning that over 70 per cent of shots down his right hand side are finding the back of the net.

Saves made by Joe Hart

Maybe Hart’s just been unlucky and players have netted some stunning goals?

Hard to agree there either.

Fraizer Campbell netted two headers past Hart’s right hand that the England international flapped haplessly at. Ricardo Vaz Te produced a bicycle attempt that the shot-stopper didn’t even look like saving. And while it was in the Champions League and not the Premier League, who could forget the howler from Hart against Franck Ribery that was closer to Munich than Manchester?

Look at the image from the film; it wasn’t like Hart was out of position. He simply made a poor attempt at a save and conceded yet another relatively soft goal down his right-hand side.

Joe Hart positioning

For the left-handed Hart, it just seems that his right hand saves have been particularly poor this year—and it wouldn’t be surprising to see it be an issue again when City take on Chelsea.

After all, the Blues have shown great prowess in finding the back of the net this year, and as the image below shows, aren’t afraid to attack the right-hand side either.

Chelsea average shot accuracy

??Football graphics and stats from Squawka???