January is over, the transfer window is closed and now Chelsea will have to start working with what they have (apart from Andrey Santos, who can still sign if he gets a work permit).
Excuses about bringing in new players will only become less relevant, and the pressure on the team to start racking up wins will only grow.
Do you think Graham Potter’s new Chelsea can put together a run and finish in the top 4? If so, now is the time to back it up and bet on new zealand with bet365, or wherever you may be. Your odds won’t be much better than this.
With just over half of the season played, Chelsea is tenth with 31 points. We have to catch Newcastle, in 41. It’s not impossible, but it will require a pretty amazing transformation from a team that has won twice in the league since mid-October.
It’s not just a matter of the 10-point gap, it’s a matter of winning games. It would be a challenge to close that gap if we were in good form, having beaten Crystal Palace and Bournemouth since the World Cup.
Arguably we have some easier games ahead: Southampton next weekend, managerless Leeds after that, Leicester and then Everton.
But looking at our results from the last few weeks shows that playing on the weaker sides guarantees you nothing except dismay if you lose points. Some of these teams are in a bad spot, but that just means they’ll be more desperate for points than ever, and we don’t look like we’re ready for the fight right now.
No wonder the odds of us clinching the Champions League places are so high – we’d have to catch high-flying Newcastle to do it. They seem more likely to push their lead than turn the ball over on the minute. Ahead of them are Man U, Man City and Arsenal, all of whom are having great seasons and none of whom seem likely to collapse to the extent that it would take for us to catch up.
So for a Chelsea punter perhaps the best thing to do is have a flutter, knowing it’s a long shot, then sit back and enjoy watching this team gradually come together over the course of the next few months, not worrying too much about where . we finish.
Also, we hear the Conference League is lovely this time of year…
