After starting the season on a high note and started gathering results, Chelsea has now lost three straight Premier League away games. This is the first time such will happen since February 2019.
At a time in this season, Chelsea’s performance had got them into the second spot. But due to late run of forms, they have found themselves further down the table in the 7th spot.
Many had predicted a straight win for Chelsea based on Arsenal’s form in their last seven Premier League games, which they have been unable to secure a win.
Although, they lost their last two away games heading into this fixture, losing just last 2 against Arsenal in their last 17 Premier League meetings were expected to give them confidence in going into this duel.
Another thing that made the Blues favourite going into this was that they had ended their last two defeats with a 3-0 win over impressive West Ham, with many thinking that they are back on the rise again.
But Arsenal playing with grit and determination for the first time since their 1-0 win at Old Trafford on November 1, even without their talisman, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, was the right way to respond to critics and give Mikel Arteta one of the best performance of the season. This will reduce the pressure on the Spaniard whose job is under scrutiny.
Why is Chelsea finding it hard to win games again in the Premier League?
Recently, Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp has said that Frank Lampard’s men should not be ruled out as title contenders based on their recent slump.
With over 200m pounds spent in the transfer window last summer, Chelsea showed some quality with Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner. But the latter seems to be struggling in front of goal at the moment.
His game against Arsenal showed lack of confidence as he has now failed to score in his last 10 games in all competitions. This is his longest drought since a run of 12 matches between March and September 2016 across spells at Stuttgart and RB Leipzig.
The goals have been coming from Olivier Giroud, Tammy Abraham, Thiago Silva and Kourt Zouma recently. No doubt, the German has proven to be a prolific scorer, but there is a need for him to find that scoring boot again.
Apart from Mason Mount’s free-kick that hit the post, the Blues otherwise struggled to break Arsenal down in the first half. Removing Werner in the first half didn’t bring about the expected change as Arsenal sealed the three points with a good strike from Bukayo Saka.
Chelsea were only able to threaten in the final few minutes and they got rewarded through Abraham’s chested effort.
Had Jorginho scored his penalty, moments later it may have been different, but Chelsea will head back across London disappointed with their performance at Emirates Stadium.
Chelsea must then raise their game when they play Aston Villa on Monday. Lampard will need the results before he starts feeling another heat.
