Chelsea’s hope of a top-four spot took a major hit last week as an unimpressive Blues suffered a humiliating loss at the hands of Sheffield United at the Bramall Lane.
Frank Lampard’s side showed neither desire nor fight and the Blades took full advantage of their opposition’s lacklustre performance as they netted in three goals. Fans seemed to agree with the fact that Chris Wilder outclassed his counterpart tactically so much so that Frank in his post-match reaction mentioned that he won’t forget some of the performances that he witnessed that day.
With a three-way battle going on between Chelsea, Leicester City and Manchester United, the onus is on the respective teams to decide their fate as we edge close to the end this season. There’s still hope though as Leicester City succumbed to a shock loss against Bournemouth on Sunday (Always believed in you Dom) and then Manchester United threw away 3 points against Southampton succumbing to a later draw on Monday (Thanks Ryan, Cheers Oriol).
Chelsea will be taking on Norwich City in the first of the last three fixtures of this season and the fans will be expecting a reaction from not just the players but the gaffer as well. Norwich are already relegated this season but that won’t mean it will an easy task for the Blues to overcome this fixture, as we have witnessed multiple times this season how inconsistent the team has been especially when facing teams that in “dire desperation.” Ahead of this tricky fixture let us take a look at what some of the writers at SW6Daily have to say in terms of how this match might unfold.
John Tateossian (@johntat16)
After an utterly humiliating defeat against Sheffield United at the weekend, Chelsea yet again faces a must-win game to keep our hopes of Champions League football alive for next season.
It’s hard to say where we need improvement on the field from the last match because the answer would be everywhere. The simple answer is absolutely everyone needs to step it up at the Bridge against an already-relegated Norwich. There is no room for error and no time for experimental lineups or tactics. Frank must put the strongest starting team out that he possibly can. From there it is up to the team to get the fan-base back behind them and believe we can finish out the season strong. I do believe this team can do. There are clear improvements to make, but that will be the focus in the offseason.
Chelsea needs to show us that they are willing to fight until the final whistle and I truly believe they will show us that they can finish out this season and secure a top-four spot.
Final Score: Chelsea 2- 0 Norwich City
Shyam (@shyamtalks)
As much as I try to be optimistic on match days, Chelsea always finds a way to disappoint me, especially this season. Though it’s understandable, one thing that simply shocks me is the fact that how we have lost matches under unusual circumstances. The West Ham & the Sheffield United game are notable mentions ever since the restart.
The Norwich City fixture is going to be all the more tricky as the opposition have nothing to lose while on the other hand, a lot is at stake for Chelsea. It’s under these circumstances that Chelsea have been highly unpredictable this season, and I don’t expect anything different in this fixture as well.
I feel Lampard and co. will be looking to attack right from the very first minute to make up for Saturday’s toothless display. It will be a tense match and we might well be in for goals galore.
It won’t be a cakewalk for the Blues but I expect the team to put their all as a slip up would most likely be goodbye for our top four dreams, unless something dramatic happens in the remaining fixtures.
Final Score: Chelsea 3 – 1 Norwich City
Luka Foley (@UOGLuka)
There are of course no words to describe Saturday’s woeful performance against Sheffield United, which has left us looking precariously over our shoulder at Leicester and Manchester United, in the hope they drop points in their final few games.
By the time we play Norwich, we could be in 5th, out of the Champions League spots with three games left to play – if both Leicester and United win their matches. (Editor’s note: They didn’t.)
On paper, Chelsea look clear favourites to beat Norwich, who had their relegation from the Premier League confirmed on Saturday when they were beaten 4-0 at West Ham. However, I’m sure if you ask any Chelsea fan what they’re thinking about Tuesday’s clash with the Canaries, they’ll be extremely apprehensive about what performance they think the the team will put in, and it will be interesting to see how the Blues react to what was a costly loss at the weekend.
It seems highly unlikely that Frank will name the same team for the Norwich game that put in arguably the team’s worst display of the season on the weekend – we do know that Billy Gilmour is out for the season, whilst Mateo Kovacic could return. Sadly N’Golo Kante hasn’t recovered yet from his hamstring injury.
As poor as we were in all aspects at the weekend, I feel that this is a perfect opportunity for the team to redeem themselves and give them some fresh momentum to carry them through to the end of the campaign.
Final Score: Chelsea 2- 0 Norwich City
Rob Pratley (@rjpjournalism)
Honestly, I could not care what the result is as long as we win. We need to be at it from minute one, straight at them. If we can score an early goal, it’s possible we can totally crush Norwich’s morale, especially considering that they are one of the few teams to have the dubious record of having a more porous defence than us.
I fancy Olivier Giroud to get at least one against Tim Krul and I also think Callum Hudson-Odoi needs to put in a performance and hopefully he will deliver the goods when it is needed most.
Otherwise, we might be relying on more people like Agent Dom, Agent Ryan and Agent Oriol.
Final Score: Chelsea 3-1 Norwich City
Ross-John (RJ) Bonaccorsi (@RJ_Goodthings)
Following that abysmal effort a few days ago whereby the Blades sliced through Chelsea’s defence in a comprehensive 3-0 thrashing, Lampard and his troops were definitely feeling the Blues. Thankfully the condensed calendar means Chelsea will have the ability to try and quickly extinguish the flames caused by Sheffield United, and rub more salt into the wounds of the officially-relegated Canaries.
As the news was released that Manchester City’s ban was overturned, which many within the footballing community predicted, Chelsea will have to earn their way into next season’s Champions League via a top 4 finish.
Fortunately for the Blues, the Foxes and Red Devils failed to capitalise on the ‘disasterclass’ at Bramall Lane which could be the stroke of luck Chelsea need to propel them forward for the rest of the campaign.
Pivoting back to the most crucial match of the season for the Blues – the next one, as each game here on in should be treated as a final – Chelsea will continue to be without the indefatigable and highly impactful Kante, Gilmour (season) and potentially Christensen, despite the Dane being included in the squad. On the plus side, Croatian sensation Mateo Kovacic looks to be ready to go which I daresay he will be in the starting XI, particularly following the subpar performance of Jorginho against the Blades.
Frank compared Norwich to that of being like ‘wounded animals’, and warned of the perils of underestimating a team that’s playing primarily for pride, so it will be interesting to watch how the Canaries approach this match given they effectively are playing with no burden knowing their fate is already sealed.
Notwithstanding this, given the lifeline thrown to the Blues (yet again), I am expecting to see a far more energetic and focused display, both from an attacking perspective but also defensively, which should see the home side obtain the same amount of points that appears on the front of their jerseys.
Given Frank’s propensity to chop and change his personnel and formation (of which he has been both praised and criticised), it is difficult to foreshadow how we will line-up, but I am suspecting there will be a few changes for this match.
Predicted XI: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Christensen, James, Kovacic, Mount, Barkley, Willian, Pulisic, Giroud.
Final Score: Chelsea 4-0 Norwich City
Chelsea face Norwich City at 20:15 BST at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
Written by Ross-John (RJ) Bonaccorsi, Rob Pratley, John Tateossian, Luka Foley & Shyam
Edited by Rob Pratley & Ross-John (RJ) Bonaccorsi