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Chelsea have a rare opportunity this weekend to claw back valuable points on their usual top four rivals this weekend. It’s been a disastrous start to Mauricio Pochettino’s reign at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea sitting 15th in the table with just won win from six games.<\/p>\n
They’re already 13 points adrift of league leaders Manchester City while hopes of returning to the Champions League are also growing slimmer every week. But this weekend’s wild run of results could end up working in Chelsea’s favour to enjoy a rare win over their rivals.<\/p>\n
Manchester United, City and Liverpool were all tipped to be fighting for a top four spot this season and the latter two are well on their way to doing just that. Erik ten Hag’s side still need to find some momentum to get their campaign going though and they dropped another three points this weekend in a shock defeat to Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n
Both City and Liverpool also failed to win as well, giving Chelsea a rare opportunity to close the gap. A win over Fulham on Monday could see Chelsea move just one point behind United in the table.<\/p>\n
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More significantly, they could move to within just eight points of the Champions League places. With 32 games still to be played this season, that gap can easily be clawed back by Chelsea if they manage to find some momentum.<\/p>\n
With big changes behind the scenes and on the pitch at Chelsea once again this summer it was always going to take time for Pochettino to find what works best for him. Injuries to key players such as Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana haven’t helped.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n But Chelsea have all the hallmarks of a squad capable of going on a run of wins to begin climbing back up the table. Their main problem is now playing catch up to the very teams they hope to be challenging with come the end of the season.<\/p>\n However, United, Liverpool and City slipping up this weekend means Chelsea have to capitalise with no room to miss out against Fulham. It’s also imperative Chelsea build up some kind of momentum going into the international break later this month.<\/p>\n They only have two league games against Fulham and Burnley before another two-week break. That’s swiftly followed by games against Arsenal and Tottenham in matches Chelsea will need to be picking up valuable points.<\/p>\n But in the short term, Chelsea’s main focus has to be getting all three points on Monday in what could be seen as a must-win for Pochettino’s side already.<\/p>\n
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