Winless in their last two Premier League games, perhaps Enzo Maresca was right regarding Chelsea’s title hopes. The West London club travel to East Anglia to face Kieran McKenna’s struggling Ipswich.
By Alex Roberts
Fulham earned their first win at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League era on Boxing Day, with Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz both scoring late goals to cancel out Cole Palmer’s opener and leave Maresca visibly furious at full-time.
Ipswich’s luck wasn’t much better. Unsurprisingly losing to Arsenal, who leapfrogged Chelsea into second (now third following yesterday’s games), as their hopes of Premier league survival are dealt another major blow.
An audition for Liam Delap
The 21-year-old has been a standout performer for Ipswich since leaving Man City in the summer, scoring six goals and providing a single assist in his 16 Premier League appearances.
His fine form has earned him some admirers amongst the more established sides, including Chelsea. Maresca’s side have had immense success from former City academy graduates in recent years, with Cole Palmer being the obvious archetype.
Delap hasn’t made a goal contribution since their 2-1 win over Tottenham, but he has every opportunity to steal the show against Chelsea.
Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles
The old adage sums up Chelsea’s season so far pretty well. Maresca’s side have no issues putting the ball in the back of the net, they’re the second highest scorers in the league, but they struggle to keep it out of their own.
Some of it could be put down to youthful exuberance, the West Londoners do have the youngest squad in the Premier League after all, but most of it is just straight up naivety.
Robert Sánchez has made three errors that have led to a goal this season, thankfully for Chelsea, Ipswich’s Arijanet Muric tops the charts with five.
Omari Hutchinson has a point to prove
The young playmaker will face his old club for the first time this season after being shipped out in the summer, feeding Chelsea’s need for ‘pure profit’ to help satiate PSR’s never-ending hunger.
Hutchinson, who played a key role in Ipswich’s promotion last season, has struggled to recapture that form since making the move permanent, scoring just one goal, and providing one assist in his 16 Premier League games.
Like many before him, Hutchinson will face Chelsea with a point to prove, and he will doubtless be intent on making them regret letting him go.
The cracks are starting to show
Chelsea’s immense squad depth is both a blessing and a curse for Maresca. While he has the ability to field entirely different teams for different competitions, keeping all the players happy is a full-time job in and of itself.
Not only that, but the Italian has to field multiple questions about why he decided against playing any one player at any one time. His press conference after the defeat to Fulham was no different.
Maresca has made just three substitutions in his last two Premier League games, is that a simple tactical decision or does he not trust his squad players? Only Maresca knows, but if it continues, players such as João Félix and Christopher Nkunku may come knowing on his door.
Prediction
A game against Ipswich is the perfect Christmas pallet cleanser for Chelsea after a frustrating couple of games. While McKenna’s side have had their moments, the visitors have too much firepower. We’re going to go with a 3-1 Chelsea win.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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