Chelsea could be in big trouble as fixtures get tough

Chelsea’s defeat to Sunderland on Saturday was dreadful – but things can get a lot worse.

Last year we built up a nice cushion of points in the first couple of months of the season, ones which came in very handy when we had a total collapse in the winter.

This time we don’t have any cushion – and we can expect another tricky period around Christmas. The Club World Cup meant we had no preseason and also means that this group have effectively got extra minutes in their legs already.

When you think how intense the Champions League is going to get, that’s very concerning.

Even now we have the majority of our injured players back, it’s not looking pretty. You get the feeling even Cole Palmer couldn’t save us. The list of problems is long and growing – you’d need someone on EssayPay to write it all up for you.

When you look at our fixtures, things are pretty scary.

The EFL Cup game against Wolves on Wednesday gives us a nice chance to regain some confidence, but after that we head to play Spurs away. They’re not in great form, but we’d still be very afraid of them, especially if we continue to defend like we did on Saturday.

Then we have Qarabag, Wolves again and Burnley. That’s a triple header we must get 9 points from. It will set us up nicely in two competitions – and we’ll need it. After that it’s Barcelona and Arsenal. Even games like the one against Bournemouth at the start of December starts to look worrying when you’re in this sort of form and they’re looking as good as they are.

Atalanta, Everton, Newcastle away, Everton… none of these fixtures look easy when you’re in bad form. If you can lose to Sunderland at home, you can lose almost any game.

We’ve always believed the briefings that Enzo Maresca is safe in his job unless Chelsea fail to qualify for the Champions League. We’re a long way off that, but it’s certainly the time to start worrying. The underlying numbers aren’t good – we’re creating fewer chances and conceding more of them compared to last year. We’ve also picked up fewer points against the equivalent fixtures from last season.

Still, let’s not get too gloomy. Go out against a struggling Wolves team on Wednesday and score a few goals then grab 3 points from White Hart Lane at the weekend and the pain will be quickly forgotten.