Oh Chelsea. They like to make things difficult for themselves.
Every time they try to gain an advantage over the teams they are chasing for a Champions League spot, they unexpectedly blunder and give their pursuers new hope.
This time, after a weekend in which Arsenal and Spurs lost and Manchester United were beaten, the Blues had the perfect chance to break away once and for all.
Last night they faced the Gunners fresh off 3 losses on spin and just begging to have their season buried at Stamford Bridge. Any new betting sites in UK would have had Thomas Tuchel’s team as favorites a week after moving to Madrid and beating Real at home.
But in the end the game was a horrific series of disastrous defensive errors (and another Romelu-Lukaku stinker) and Arsenal somehow managed a 4-2 win. That puts Chelsea back in the game, with the Blues now just 5 points clear of both north London clubs.
We still have one game to go – but our games aren’t the easiest and if we continue to play this inconsistently the fight will surely last until the end of the season.
We’re playing West Ham this Sundaywho beat us earlier this season and look like a really serious team this season. Our only hope is that they get distracted from their Europa League efforts.
Next comes Manchester United – struggling but still dangerous given the talent they have, especially at Old Trafford.
Then a fascinating match against Frank Lampard’s struggling Everton side – played at a rabid Goodison Park.
This streak of 3 games alone is pretty awkward and it’s not inconceivable that we lose all 3. If we lose points and Spurs and Arsenal keep winning, we will be in a very sweaty situation in the last few weeks.
It’ll probably still be in our hands (unless things go really horribly wrong) but those last three games aren’t a cakewalk either – Wolves, Leicester and Leeds.
We’re still big favorites but in reality we should be pushing for 1st place not fighting for 4th place and the way the whole campaign crashed so suddenly is a real disappointment.
Still, with so many big games, there’s at least plenty of room to grab some big wins and put a smile on everyone’s faces for the long summer that lies ahead.
