In a manner not to dissimilar to the past few seasons, Chelsea once again find themselves this side of the new year resetting expectations. They start the season convincingly, reach the top, and then self-destruct themselves. This has been happening ever since they last won the title in 2017. And this has happened again this season.
Saturday’s trip to the Etihad was simply a must-win game for the Blues, as they sought to cut a 10-point gap at the top. Instead, they put forward another feeble case to justify their title credentials. The performance was embarrassingly similar to the one against City in September. Romelu Lukaku once again went missing as Chelsea now find themselves 13 points behind City and now two behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
Injuries and Covid
Chelsea were top of the table heading into December. But from that point on, injuries started plaguing the squad badly as fixtures started to congest. Mateo Kovacic, Lukaku, Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell suffered injuries in the build up to the hectic period. During Kovacic’s absence, N’Golo Kante also pulled up, meaning Jorginho had to play despite being injured himself. Chilwell’s injury forces Marcos Alonso to put in the extra work, as there’s no other natural replacement.
When Lukaku looked set to return, he was hit with covid, ruling him out for two more weeks. Nathaniel Chalobah also suffered an injury, and Reece James soon followed suit. Chelsea have had their fare share of injuries to crucial first team players and that played a major role in their downfall.
The Romelu Lukaku (striker) problem
The striker/no. 9 curse is real at Chelsea. Not even Lukaku could break the spell as he continues to struggle on and off the pitch. He was brought in to make a difference in the big games, but he offered little challenge to the City backline. Agreed his supporting cast didn’t offer him much service to thrive on, but Thomas Tuchel said post-match that the Belgian has to create some service himself.
He had the ball on a few occasions in promising positions, but always chose the wrong option. Even when presented with a one-on-one, his effort at goal was telegraphed and Ederson saved comfortably. Lukaku has been criticised a lot for his off-field antiques, and he did little to salvage himself. His numbers throughout have been abysmal, and even more in the games that matter.
Failure to turn up in ‘title deciders’
A barometer of a team’s title credentials is how they fare in games against fellow title hopefuls. Unfortunately for Chelsea, those games haven’t yielded the required returns. Just two points in four games against Liverpool and City, two of Chelsea’s title rivals, is below par. They say to be the best, you got to beat the best. But Chelsea failed to beat the two best teams in the league.
City and Liverpool are yet to play each other, so for them one game is left in this mini three horse league. But no matter what happens, their records will be better than Chelsea. Liverpool’s numbers aren’t great either, but they themselves are 11 points behind runaway City.
There are a lot of other factors as well, like silly home draws against mid-bottom/table teams, loss of defensive solidity, etc. But these three are the main factors in my opinion. In a season of such promise, Chelsea now find themselves in a battle for top four once again. The chasing pack have games in hand, and if they win them, they’ll be breathing down Chelsea’s necks.
In fact, if Spurs win all their games, they will go above Chelsea. In the past three seasons, the Blues have barely scraped into the top four. They can’t afford to go back into that position especially after being in the title discussion for so long.