Chelsea’s tricky run in makes Champions League predictions impossible

After a winning run following Liam Rosenior taking over in January, Chelsea were perfectly placed to take a solid grip on a Champions League place in February. But dropping four points from winning positions against Leeds and then Burnley has plunged us right back into the mix, and things suddenly look very shaky indeed.

If you’ve been betting on Chelsea making the top 5 this season, you will have been tearing your hair out watching the embarrassing fashion in which the team “set fire” to those points in the last two league games, as Rosenior put it.

To honest, given the Blues’ inconsistencies this season and over the last few years, you might be better off putting money into some online slots like happy jokers. That will be significantly more enjoyable than sweating out a bet on this team, who always seem to perform when they’re not expected to, then struggle when it should be an easy win.

Just look at the results this season. The best moment of the campaign was probably battering Barcelona 3-0 in late November. At that point, you might have been backing us for serious success, especially when we battled to a draw with Arsenal that weekend, despite being reduced to ten men. But how did we follow that? A 3-1 loss to Leeds and a 0-0 draw with Bournemouth, then a defeat in the Champions League against Atalanta.

We’ve failed to beat a single one of the promoted teams at home this season. But we’re also unbeaten in the league against Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool so far. Make it make sense…

That’s what makes this final run of games so fascinating. All our remaining games are tough or very tough. Yet we’ve actually exceeded expectations in our games against the top teams. It’s against weaker sides we’ve slumped.

We just have to hope that pattern continues. Slipping to those two draws will have shaken the squad’s confidence, and getting a good result against Arsenal this weekend is vital. The fact that we face Aston Villa, Liverpool and Man United in the weeks to come, the other teams battling us for the top 5, means huge swings are still possible.

One ace up our sleeve is the final day, where we head to the Stadium of Light, likely facing a Sunderland team on the beach with nothing to play for. That’s one of the trickier away games of the season, and we have it at the perfect time.