Will Chelsea's misfiring front line cost them the Premier League title?

Stefan Bienkowski

• 4 Dec 2021 16:26 GMT
• 7 min read

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel did his misfiring forward line a huge favour by focussing his wrath on goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, following Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to West Ham.

Despite first half goals from Thiago Silva and Mason mount, the Stamford Bridge side were undone by their local rivals in no small part because of a mistake by the Chelsea keeper just three minutes from time.

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However, Saturday’s match was also another one that once again showcased a Chelsea performance that was entirely devoid of any real clinical touch from any of the club’s many top strikers. And it’s now beginning to have a severe impact on the club’s Premier League title challenge.

How bad have Chelsea’s forwards been?

Following the defeat to West Ham, Chelsea’s striker’s sit on a pitiful amount of goals as we approach the midway point of the season.

Romelu Lukaku has just four goals from 15 appearances, while Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech have just three goals each from 18 and 21 appearances respectively. While Kai Havertz - perhaps one of the few performers in Chelsea’s attack this season - has just four goals from 22 games.

In total, Chelsea’s forwards have managed just seven goals in the Premier League this season, which is the third lowest goal tally for any front line in the English top flight. Only Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City have less clinical strikers.

When we compare that to Liverpool - whose forwards have bagged no less than 34 of the club’s 43 goals - it certainly puts into perspective just how poor Chelsea’s front line have been this season.

Will it cost them the league title?

While Tuchel may not be too worried just yet, the German manager would likely concede that his team would have done far better over the course of the last three games if they had a goal scorer like Mohamed Salah or Cristiano Ronaldo in the box rather than an unfit Lukaku or a misfiring Werner.

Perhaps both players will turn things around in the second half of the season, but it remains hard to imagine that Chelsea will be romping to a league title in May if Reece James or Jorginho remain the club’s most potent sources of goals.