Chelsea's misfiring defence is putting a dent in their Premier League title challenge
Stefan Bienkowski
- 16 Dec 2021 16:15 CST
- 3 min read
Chelsea were held to a bitterly disappointing 1-1 draw with Everton on Thursday night in what will undoubtedly be seen as two points dropped by the Premier League title contenders.
The Stamford Bridge side were up against it with mitigating factors, when Thomas Tuchel confirmed before the match that Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku had all tested positive for COVID and that Kai Havertz was isolating while he awaited his results.
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As such, the Chelsea manager was forced to get creative with his attacking line up, as Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech took turns leading the line, before Saul Niguez was brought on in the second half to play as an unconventional No.9.
However, while Chelsea fans would have undoubtedly left Stamford Bridge cursing their club’s luck, the real reason behind the club’s recent dip in form - which has seen Tuchel’s side win just two of their last five league games - has very little to do with their attack.
In fact, Chelsea’s lacklustre grip on the title race is actually down to the team’s defence performing well below par.
Chelsea's last six results:
D 1-1 vs Man Utd
W 2-1 vs Watford
L 3-2 vs West Ham
D 3-3 vs Zenit
W 3-2 vs Leeds
D 1-1 vs Everton
Feels like teams are figuring out how to play against Tuchel's 3-4-3. Can't just blame Covid or injuries for poor display tonight.#CHEEVE #cfc— Joe Krishnan (@joekrishnan) December 16, 2021
Chelsea keep shipping goals
Indeed, while Chelsea could have used the likes of Lukaku, Werner or Havertz on the pitch on Thursday night, the reason the club dropped two points was because Jarrad Branthwaite knocked home an equaliser from a free-kick just four minutes after Mason Mount’s opening goal. And that’s what would have been tormenting Tuchel after the match.
Over the course of their last five league games, Chelsea have conceded no less than eight goals. Which works out at an average of 1.6 goals conceded per game. Not only is that well over their average of 0.71 goals conceded per game this season, but it’s even worse than the club’s average of 0.95 per game last season, when they weren’t exactly performing under Frank Lampard either.
As things stand, Chelsea are still only three points off Liverpool in second and four off Manchester City in first, but they’re likely to continue dropping if Tuchel can’t find a way to plug the holes in his defence.
