That was a highlight, but what has happened since has gone the other way. If you predict Chelsea’s results now, you get the same kind of rush you get when playing online slot machines. You don’t know whether you will get a win against Barcelona or a weak defeat against Leeds.
December’s matches making things even harder to predict. It’s a deceptive series of matches. We’re not playing Liverpool, Manchester City or other traditional ‘big 6′ teams, but there are still some extremely tough games in there.
It starts this weekend with a potentially terrible match against Everton. David Moyes makes sure they go into battle ready and confident, while after four games without a win we go into the match with extremely little confidence.
To make matters worse, the Toffees come to Stamford Bridge knowing they can be happy with a point. They can defend and try to hit us on the break. In the meantime, we will have to attack and try to break them down – something we have struggled with.
The good news is that at least Cole Palmer is coming back. But even then he is just working on his fitness and did not look at his best in his cameo against Bournemouth last week.
After the Everton game we get a softer game: against Cardiff in the EFL Cup. But since we are playing against our second team, that could also be a battle. That weekend’s match, away at St James’ Park, looks like a terrible test in a stadium where we have a poor record. Moises Caicedo will at least be able to play after his suspension at that point, and Palmer should be closer to full fitness.
After that we have Aston Villa (now ahead of us in the table) and Bournemouth to end the month.
It’s honestly hard to feel confident about a win in any of these games. A good result against Everton on Saturday should restore some confidence, but if we fail to beat them and make it five without a win, our traditional winter spiral will be well underway.
However, there is no time for doom and gloom. It’s the best we can do to take it one game at a time, and we’re sure that’s the message Enzo Maresca has for his players at the moment.
Read Next
#Chelseas #wobble #bad #worse