On 3rd April 2021, Chelsea suffered a shock 5-2 defeat at the hands of minnows West Bromwich Albion. Despite taking the lead through Christian Pulisic, a red card to Thiago Silva changed the course of what looked like a comfortable afternoon. Before half-time, the Baggies had turned the match. In the second half, the carnage continued as the visitors played some wonderful football to open a 4-1 lead.
Mason Mount pulled one back, but the rout was completed in stoppage time. A year later, Chelsea suffered a similarly shocking defeat at home, this time to west Londoners Brentford. It was a 1-4 loss this time but there were no players sent off this time around. The Blues once again took the lead, only to be stung by the Bees, whose fine campaign reached another high.
Having suffered two inexplicable defeats in two years, how does the league table look for the Blues? We compare where Chelsea are in the table after this season’s reverse compared to their position after last season’s blip.
Last season
Before West Brom’s visit, Chelsea had squeezed into the top four. They were two points ahead of West Ham in fifth. But that embarrassing loss coupled with West Ham’s 3-2 win at Wolves left Chelsea out of the Champions League places. The Hammers replaced them with their away win. Incidentally, Liverpool also won that weekend to close the gap to Chelsea to just two points. That proved to be significant as the Reds finished two points clear of Chelsea in the final league table.
This season
It wasn’t as damaging as last season, in terms of league position anyway. The Blues will remain third despite the loss, though failure to pick up points will allow Arsenal to close the gap to just two points. Overall, they have more points, wins, goals scored and lesser defeats, goals conceded than last season.
What happens next?
The 5-2 defeat acted like a wake up call and fortunately was quickly forgotten. Chelsea bounced back with a quarter-final victory over Porto and then winning at Palace in a resounding fashion. They didn’t let the defeat have too many repercussions as they managed to finish in the top four, reach the FA Cup finals, and win the Champions League.
Thomas Tuchel, who pointed at fatigue from the international break as the cause of defeat, will hope this season’s loss will have a similar impact. They have a quarter-final tie against Real Madrid, followed by a trip to Southampton.
For the best part of the season, a top three finish looked a formality for the Blues. But their third position is now under threat as the top two both won, and Arsenal can come to within two points. They must get their act together like last season and finish strongly. The FA Cup and Champions League are still up for grabs.