Chelsea have finally come out of their toughest run of games of the season and straight into the Christmas period, where even easy games can become challenging simply due to the volume of fixtures.
Over the last 10 years or so we have found ourselves unstuck again and again in this period, so we don’t have too much hope. That’s especially the case given we have a never-ending injury crisis and a team that seems far from competing at the top of the league.
We are in 10th place now, where will we be on February 1st? It’s very difficult to say.
In our last game we faced a very different challenge – the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup. We didn’t gain any league points in that win, but we got some momentum and confidence with a home win on penalties over a Newcastle team who taught us in our game against them at St James’ Park not long ago. It was a great victory for team spirit and now, overall, things are looking a little better. Now, we have a relatively friendly Christmas race to try to climb back up the table.
If you’re using places like this site to bet on Chelsea’s miraculous recovery over the winter, we think now is the time to do it, and here’s why.
An away game against the up-and-coming Wolves on the 24th is by no means easy, and we’re not going to take that game for granted against a really well-drilled and motivated Gary O’Neill team. But with the talent we have, we surely aspire to score 3 points there.
The same applies to our next games: Crystal Palace at home on the 27th, which is a must-win if we want to progress into the top half, as is the game against Luton after the 30th. There are no easy games, but there are certainly 3 winnable games, just like the game against Fulham on January 13.
By the time we face Liverpool on the last day of January, it is certainly possible (although very hopeful) that we will have won 4 out of 4 and actually progressed in the league. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but with the return of Christopher Nkunku this week, we’re indulging in some Christmas cheer and dreaming of fighting our way into a Europa Conference League spot by Easter time.
There is even the possibility of signings in January, although we are still struggling to use the signings from last January, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves… game by game and point by point is what we want.
