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Chelsea must improve or face battle for top four

For the second time this season, Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday. The scoreline suggests a close game, both at the Etihad Stadium last weekend and Stamford Bridge in September. Yet on both occasions, Chelsea were outclassed by the Premier League champions.

After a 2-1 victory over Watford on December 1, Thomas Tuchel’s side were top of the table. They held a one-point advantage over Manchester City, while Liverpool were a point further back in third. Since that midweek round of fixtures, City have taken 24 points from a possible 24 and extended their winning run to 12 matches. In the same period, Chelsea have collected only 10 points.

The Blues had to win at the Etihad to keep their title chances alive. The 1-0 defeat leaves them 13 points adrift of top spot. That is quite the turnaround in a seven-week period.

Part of the explanation lies in City’s unrelenting excellence. But Chelsea have themselves to blame too. They have dropped points to West Ham United, Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion since the beginning of last month. They are on course to finish the season with 74 points. That would not have been enough to win the title in any other campaign in the Premier League era.

Unless Chelsea get back on track soon, they could even be dragged into the race for the top four. Fifth-placed Arsenal are eight points behind their London rivals but have two games in hand. Tottenham have played four fewer matches than Chelsea and would climb above them were they to win each of them. It remains improbable that Tuchel’s team will fail to qualify for the Champions League. But the possibility cannot be definitively ruled out amid a run of one win in six games.

Chelsea were smothered by City on Saturday but better decision-making in the final third could have brought them a better result. Each member of the front three, which contained Romelu Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic, failed to impress. Lukaku’s touch deserted him on occasion, while Ziyech’s final ball was poor and Pulisic was too timid in possession.

Even so, there could be no disputing that City were the better team. There is no shame in losing to Pep Guardiola’s champions-elect, but the worry for Chelsea is that they are struggling to string consistent performances together. Having eased past Tottenham in the League Cup semi-finals, they were insipid at the Etihad. A 2-2 draw with Liverpool earlier this month was respectable, but Chelsea were below par in draws with Everton, Wolves and Brighton.

Issues have emerged at both ends of the field. Tuchel immediately made Chelsea more solid upon taking charge 12 months ago, and a stubborn rearguard remained a feature of the team at the start of the season. But Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in only one of their last 10 Premier League outings.

Meanwhile their attack has been unable to keep pace with those of City and Liverpool, who have scored nine and 10 more goals than Chelsea respectively. Lukaku has hitherto been unable to replicate his Inter form at Stamford Bridge. The Belgian averaged 0.65 goals per league game in his two seasons with the Nerazzurri. His second spell at Chelsea is currently yielding 0.36 per top-flight encounter.

Tuchel has plenty of credit in the bank after leading the Blues to Champions League glory last term. Chelsea are through to the League Cup final and on course to secure a top-three finish in the Premier League. Yet there is a danger that their recent dip in form could become a slump. As he approaches his first anniversary in west London, Tuchel has plenty to think about.

 


 

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