There is no end to Chelsea’s agony. New season – new troubles. The arrival of Mauricio Pochettino at the helm did not bring anything good to the Blues, who are only in 11th place in the middle of the table, so qualifying for any of the European competitions seems like an impossible mission at the moment.The former champion of England and Europe has as many as three defeats in four previous duels. The London team looked awfula few days ago in Wolverhampton (2-1). The problem for the Argentinian expert is the large number of injured players. Things are not ‘clicking’ in all the lines of the team. The defense concedes a large number of goals, the attack is barren, there is no leader in the midfield. A glimmer of hope is Christopher Nkunku’s goal last week, his first in the championship, after a serious injury and months-long absence. Is he the cure for Chelsea’s chronic inefficiency?Fi-na-lly! Hojlund bags his first Man Utd goal for a miraculous comeback against VillaHumble Crystal Palace arrive at Stamford Bridge tonight, and they will be fighting for survival. The team from Selhurst Park have not won in almost two months, since the duel against Burnley on November 4 – seven matches without a win. The chosen ones of Roy Hodgson did get better a bit – they played a draw at the Etihad against Manchester City (2-2), and six days ago they were left without two points in the finish, another draw, this time against Brighton at their stadium (1-1).It is a devastating statistic that Chelsea have the most defeats in the league in 2023, as many as 19. Only three teams in the ‘top five’ leagues have exceeded this number of failures: Almeria, Werder Bremen and Empoli. Even more devastating is the fact that more than 1,200,000,000 euros were spent in three consecutive transfer windows, and hardly any of the expensive newcomers justified the money spent.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Statistics are sometimes like a bikini – it shows a lot but reveals nothing. However, in Chelsea’s case, the numbers are clear. The Blues have missed 36 of 57 big chances, which is the worst performance in the championship. The search for a classic ‘no.9’ is still ongoing. It is clear that it cannot be either the Senegalese Nicolas Jackson or the Albanian Armando Broja. The signing from Villarreal scored two goals in the league and Broja started just seven games. Ukrainian Mykhailo Mudryk found the back of the net twice in 31 games.Expensive reinforcements did not pay out so far. Enzo Fernandez has three goals and assists in 42 games in 12 months. Raheem Sterling is far from his form when he played for City and he is one of the best in the Chelsea squad. Axel Disassi, Benoit Badiashile and Marc Cucurella failed to improve the defense. In midfield, Moises Caicedo is not playing as he did in Brighton, while Romeo Lavia is still without a debut due to injury.We are again looking towards January and the transfer window, so it is expected that Chelsea will be active on the market again. The Swede from Lisbon’s Sporting Viktor Gyokeres is mentioned as the first pick in the attack.🔥 EXCLUSIVE 🔥Viktor Gyokeres is becoming a serious target for Chelsea, but may prefer to wait for a big move on the continent instead 🔵That’d be a shame, as this is how he compares to Nicolas Jackson so far this season 🔢 pic.twitter.com/HT6TlzGEXP— TEAMtalk (@TEAMtalk) December 27, 2023 Serbian custodian Đorđe Petrović justified the trust after the injury of starter Robert Sanchez. Pochettino still does not have a complete team today. Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling miss today’s match due to card suspensions, while Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez, Reece James and the aforementioned Spanish netminder Robert Sanchez are out due to injuries. The Ecuadorian Moises Caicedo is ill and questionable for the line-up. The guests also cannot count on their strongest team – Cheick Doucouré, Odsonne Édouard, Rob Holding, Sam Johnstone, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Joel Ward are all out of rotation.If there is anything to comfort Chelsea fans, then it is the fact that their today’s rivals are their favorite ‘customer’. In as many as 12 of the last games, the Blues won against their neighbors. Last season it was 1-0 at Stamford Bridge and 2-1 at Selhurst Park.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 19TuesdayNewcastle – Nott.Forest 1-3 (1-1)/Isak 24 pen – Wood 45+1, 53, 60/Bournemouth – Fulham 3-0 (1-0)/Kluivert 44, Solanke 62 pen, Sinisterra 90+3/Sheffield Utd – Luton 2-3 (0-1)/McBurnie 61, Ahmedhodzic 69 – Doughty 17, Robinson 77 og, Ben Slimane 81 og/Burnley – Liverpool 0-2 (0-1)/Darwin 6, Elliott 90/Man Utd – Aston Villa 3-2 (0-2)/Garnacho 60, 72, Hojlund 82 – McGinn 21, Dendoncker 26/Wednesday22:30: (2.05) Brentford (3.50) Wolverhampton (3.90)22:30: (1.80) Chelsea (3.70) Crystal Palace (5.00)23:15: (6.25) Everton (4.10) Man.City (1.62)Thursday22:30: (2.75) Brighton (3.60) Tottenham (2.60)23:15: (1.37) Arsenal (5.20) West Ham (10.0)***odds are subject to change***
