Chelsea football club dropped two points in their Premier League game against Wolves on Sunday, December 19, 2021, which made it the third time in 6 games the club failed to win a league game.
Due to that, Chelsea are steadily losing ground in their fight to win this season’s Premier League title as they have slipped from the top of the table to the 3rd.
The fact that they are occupying the third spot on the table is not the bad news, the bad news is that the gap between them and the table leaders, Manchester City, has widened so massively.
Currently, Chelsea are occupying the third spot with 38 points in 18 games, 6 points away from Manchester City, and three points away from second-placed Liverpool.
Before the 0-0 draw with Wolves, Chelsea recorded at least 7 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Hence, the club wrote to the Premier League to postpone the game.
Besides the fact that Chelsea’s covid-19 cases are increasing, most of the club’s top players are just returning from injury while some were not fit enough for the game.
Recall that barely a week ago, it was reported that some of Chelsea’s first-choice players which include Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and the injured Ben Chilwell tested positive for covid-19.
The fact that Lukaku and Werner tested positive for the virus at the same time means that Chelsea are without a natural striker.
To make matters worse for the London-based side, four of the club’s first-team players were absent in the squad that drew with Wolves on Sunday. The absent players were Jorginho, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kai Havertz, and the injured Andreas Christensen.
Despite losing all these important players ahead of their league game against Wolves, the Premier League still decided to reject the club’s application requesting for the postponement of the game.
In his reaction to the Premier League decision to reject Chelsea’s request, Thomas Tuuchel told Sky Sports that it was hard for the club to understand the basis for the league body’s decision. “We are very concerned about the health of the players”, he added.
Hence, the reigning UEFA Champions League winners had to name 6 substitutes for the game against Wolves – one goalkeeper and 5 players, instead of seven.
The club had the option of inviting some players from the club’s under-23 team but the club’s coach, Thomas Tuchel did not do so because the senior squad and the under-23 squad have been training in different bubbles.
After the 0-0 draw with Wolves, coach Thomas Tuchel stressed that he was satisfied with the outcome of the game, noting that it still hurts that Chelsea dropped points against Burnley (1-1 draw on November 6), Manchester United (1-1 draw on November 28, and Everton (1-1 draw on December 16).
“After a strong start in the first five minutes we struggled to adapt to Wolves’ shape”, Thomas Tuchel said. “It was a very strong performance in the second half. That it is hard to score goals here, that is clear.
“To analyze this game in isolation, I am fine with it. I am very happy with how we played in the second half. The points that hurt are the points we lost at home to Burnley, Manchester United, and Everton, they are the six points that hurt.”
🗣️ "We talk a lot about safety and protecting the players, not so sure we did this today."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 19, 2021
Thomas Tuchel pulls no punches when talking about the decision to go ahead with the #WOLCHE game. pic.twitter.com/z8HInFW0nd
