Chelsea’s season hangs by a thread after defeat in the EFL Cup.
They’re wallowing in mid desk within the Premier League, seemingly unable to achieve increased than eighth or decrease than 14th. Their final hope of glory is the FA Cup, and our subsequent recreation in that competitors comes up on Wednesday, earlier than the mud has even settled on the league cup remaining defeat’s fallout.
Online betting will inform you that we’re overwhelming favourites for the sport towards Leeds – however we wouldn’t agree in any respect.
We’re at dwelling, positive. And we did properly on the best way to the League Cup remaining by dispatching decrease league opposition alongside the best way. However Leeds are a special matter. They’re a Premier League group in Championship group clothes. Their entrance line is fearsome, they usually’re stuffed with confidence and a determined need to show themselves towards the massive boys once more.
Daniel Farke’s group are flying within the second tier – they’ve received 6 in a row, and haven’t misplaced of their final 12 video games. They may even probably be extraordinarily assured that their high quality will carry them to automated promotion, so the FA Cup will not be one thing they’re seeking to throw away – fairly the alternative in truth.
And that’s earlier than you even get to their historic rivalry towards us. We haven’t performed the Whites within the FA Cup because the 1970 remaining, one of the notorious video games in English soccer historical past. It’s hardly a contemporary and open wound, however all that point has solely added to the buildup.
How will our gamers react to the defeat at Wembley? That’s one other thriller issue when predicting this recreation. They could possibly be impressed and motivated to come back out and present all of the doubters that they’re incorrect. However this can be a younger, inexperienced and probably mentally fragile group. They appear to essentially like Mauricio Pochettino, however is he going to have the ability to choose them up off the ground mentally after such an apparent bottling? It’s laborious to say.
This group is tough sufficient to foretell at the most effective of instances – the dearth of a constant finisher means we go into each recreation not understanding if will probably be a stroll or a battle. And that goes for each recreation, whether or not we’re enjoying Middlesbrough or Man Metropolis.
So the concept this isn’t a really even recreation is simply plain incorrect. If we’re at our greatest, we must always have an excessive amount of for them. However how usually have we been at our greatest this season?
