SAN FRANCISCO, January 03, (THEWILL) – In Sunday’s big fixture between English Premier League heavyweights Chelsea and Manchester City, the two sides were expected to be so evenly matched that they were going to cancel out each other before City’s squad was hit by the Coronavirus outbreak.
That unforeseen circumstance seemed to give the London hosts an undue advantage going into the tie and not a few were led to believe it was the opportunity for Frank Lampard to dig himself out of the dirt recent results, especially the disappointing 3-1 loss to fellow London side Arsenal, had left the Blues in.
Yet, despite being without six first-team players due to the outbreak in the Etihad grounds, City ran out 3-1 winners after a ruthless first half blitzkrieg at Stamford Bridge to make it three league victories in a row for Pep Guardiola’s side.
City’s first victory over one of last season’s top-six finishers at the fifth attempt this season moves them to within four points of top spot while still having a game in hand and a gradually resurgent squad priming itself with each victory for a shot at the summit.
A 2-0 defeat at the hands of Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur in November was the wake up call City needed as, since then, they have won five of their seven league matches and drawn the other two, showing glimpses of their title-winning quality of seasons past.
In that span of matches, only neighbours and joint-leaders Manchester United have taken more points (20) than the Citizens’ 17. And these two Manchester sides square off against each other in the EFL Cup semi-finals on Wednesday, as United attempt to wrest City’s grasp away from the trophy for which City are defending champions.
In stark contrast with that upward mobility of City, their Sunday opponents, Chelsea are nose-diving. Lampard’s side sat comfortably atop the Premier League after a 3-1 win over Leeds in early December. By Sunday, January 3, they have dropped to eighth. With just one draw in six matches, Chelsea have had to endure an alarming slide and the spotlight is now falling on no other than the manager.
Chelsea fell short of expectations as they did against Arsenal and failed to take advantage of the COVID-19 decimated City squad. In fact, Lampard’s charges have been unable to beat any of the Premier League’s current top seven this season.
They have lost to the likes of Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City while Manchester United, Tottenham and Aston Villa have held them to draws. Regardless of how it is sliced, such abysmal stats reflect poorly on the man who calls the shots.
Since attacking and defending have been poor, there is no easy solution to the double-sided problems for Lampard. His side has conceded more goals than relegation-threatened Burnley, who are 16th and only two fewer than 18th-placed Fulham. Furthermore, new team members are struggling to make an impact. German forward, Timo Werner, for instance, is now without a goal in his last 12 Chelsea appearances.
Israeli-Russian Club owner Roman Abramovich is not known for the gift of patience and it is well documented that he has fired Chelsea managers for less than what Lampard is putting the club through. To sit eighth nearly halfway into the season is not what Abramovich expected when he sanctioned a war-chest of £226m in spending during the last transfer window.
Frankly, Lampard still has time to make his quality-laden side click by fixing inherent flaws but whether he gets the time he needs to do it remains uncertain.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
