Chelsea, which led the Premier League earlier this season, have recently been in a slump. On the 19th, Chelsea was forced to draw 1-1 by Brighton in the case of an advanced goal, and the Premier League has not tasted victory in the last 4 rounds of 3 draws and 1 loss.
Chelsea 'physically and mentally exhausted'
Just lost to Manchester City last weekend, Chelsea, who have been double-matched by the "Blue Moon" home-and-away game this season, are facing Brighton in this round of the Premier League. The away team, which did not have much of a glittering performance after the opening, was shot by Ziyech in the 28th minute and was lucky to take the lead.
However, Chelsea did not take advantage of this momentum, but Brighton repeatedly created dangers in the second half. In the 60th minute, the home team took advantage of a corner kick opportunity to be hit by Webster's head hammer to make the score 1-1.
After completing the first 23 rounds, Chelsea were in third place with 44 points, one point behind Liverpool, who played 21 rounds, and 12 points away from defending champions Manchester City in 22 rounds.
Chelsea manager Tuchel bluntly said there was nothing to blame the team for because the players had done their best and "but we were really physically and mentally exhausted". "The lads need to rest and there is no other solution." The German godhead said.
Brighton are already unbeaten in five Premier League games and are provisionally ninth with 29 points after playing 21 games so far.
Defensive landslides lead to more draws
The reason why Chelsea fell from the title group is related to the team's excessive draws this season. Chelsea's last league win dates back to Christmas Day, when Tuchel's side had not scored three points in the league for three weeks after beating Aston Villa 3-1.
Chelsea have drawn eight of their 23 Premier League games this season, including 1-1, 2-2 draws with Liverpool and 1-1 draws with Manchester United, as well as 1-1 Burnley, 1-1 Everton, 0-0 Wolves and 1-1 Brighton. Draws with the giants are not shameful, but consecutive draws against some weak teams are somewhat unspeakable.
So why did Chelsea suddenly see an increase in draws in the middle of the season? Because defensive quality is slipping. According to statistics, after 7 clean sheets in the first 10 Premier League games at the beginning of the season, Chelsea has only been able to complete 2 of the last 13 league games, and the defensive efficiency has dropped significantly.
Chelsea are not as good at attacking as Manchester City and Liverpool, and if there is a problem on the defensive end, it is not surprising that it is difficult to win.
From the title race to the third guarantee
In the current Premier League table, Manchester City has a strong lead with 56 points in 22 games, and has won 12 consecutive games in the Premier League, and their most recent victory was a 1-0 home win over Chelsea. Liverpool finished second with 45 points in 21 games, trailing Manchester City by 11 points in the first round of the game. Chelsea are third with 44 points in 23 games, one more round than Manchester City but 12 points behind, and it is a fool's dream to talk about the title at this time.
Even Chelsea manager Tuchel said chelsea are now a team that competes for three. At present, whether Chelsea can sit firmly in third place this season also has to be questioned. Chelsea are currently seven points more than Fourth Place West Ham, who are one less game apart, and it doesn't look like the situation is that bad. But what really threatens the Blues are two other London teams: Arsenal and Tottenham, ranked 5th and 6th respectively. Arsenal are now three games short, exactly nine points behind Chelsea, while Tottenham May seem to be 11 points behind the Blues, but they are now actually playing as many as five games less. Chelsea are wobbly drawn into a brutal battle for the fourth, this time against three Premier League teams in London.
Source: Yangtze Evening News