In the early morning of December 17, the 17th round of the Premier League continued, the Blues Chelsea sat at home stamford Bridge to meet toffey Everton, Mount scored the 20th Premier League goal of his career, and then Everton's 19-year-old Branswert shoveled a goal to tie the score, and the two sides finally shook hands 1-1. Lukaku, Hudson-Odoi, Werner and others tested positive for COVID-19, while Kante and Charopah returned to sit on the bench. Even so, Chelsea's bench has only eight players, including two goalkeepers, while Everton on the other side is even worse, with only seven substitutes, including two 18-year-olds.
After the opening, Chelsea quickly took the initiative on the field, and Pulisic and Mount both had good scoring opportunities, but unfortunately they failed to seize the opportunity. In the first half, the two teams exchanged blanks 0-0. In the 70th minute of the second half, Reece James passed the ball and Mount stabbed a one-handed shot in front of the penalty area. However, just four minutes later, Everton tied the score when 19-year-old Branswert received a free-kick from Gordon and shoveled it from close range, it is worth mentioning that this is the first Premier League starter in england's career, and this goal is also his first Premier League goal.
In the end, the two sides shook hands 1-1, chelsea occupied 80% of the possession, 10 of the 23 shots on goal, but only scored 1 goal, while Everton only had 5 shots on goal in 90 minutes, but 1 goal was enough to make them all back at Stamford Bridge. Tuchel's side, on the other hand, have lost nine points in the last seven premier league games, leaving a four-point gap by Manchester City, who have won seven consecutive games.
It should be said that the absence of some of the main players has greatly reduced Chelsea's strength, which is an indisputable fact, but the opposite Everton is also short of major generals, the starting lineup has 20-year-old striker Sims and 19-year-old Branswirt, and the two 18-year-olds on the bench also play on the bench, so Chelsea still has the absolute upper hand in strength. But in the game, Tuchel's team was invincible, and Saul, who came off the bench, performed even worse, trying three positions of center forward, back and left wing-back, but there was no bright play, of course, many other Chelsea players were not in form.
The most fatal thing is that the Blues' previously handy two-wing flying tactic has now become a single-wing blind flapping. After Chilwell was sidelined due to injury, Tuchel never found his perfect stand-in again, and in this game, Sauer came off the bench to play left wing-back, which was already the last trick of the German coach to be a live horse doctor. In addition, the absence of Kante and Kovacic has greatly reduced the defensive interception of the Blues midfield. In their absence, Jorginho could only fight continuously, and now his body has reached a limit.
It also raises doubts that before the start of the season, Chelsea were considered to have a bench depth comparable to or even overpowered by Manchester City. However, as the season progressed, it was discovered that this was not the case. City have also suffered a number of injuries, and midfielder De Bruyne has been absent for five consecutive games, but on his days off, Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Gundogan perfectly supported the midfield and led the team to maintain a full victory. In the front line, Manchester City's only centre-forward, Ferrantore, also stopped injured early, and even so, Guardiola's frontless squad was also more blooming, and this round of the game was a 7-0 sweep of Leeds United. In the last round, Chelsea did not beat Leeds United 3-2 with Jorginho's penalty until the 94th minute.
So, if Chelsea still want to defend their Champions League title this season, the winter window will have to fill up manpower to avoid being dumped by Manchester City and Liverpool. Otherwise, last season's Champions League title was short-lived.