Chelsea may have made it through the first third of the season unbeaten, but the table still sees the Blues only in third place, just one point above Spurs in fourth and a fairly remarkable four points behind Manchester City in first. With City on pace to set a new points record for the season once again, breaking their century-mark of last season, the rest of the top-heavy Premier League is fighting for scraps despite impressive overall records.
The race is far from over — neither the title nor the top four is won at this point — but Chelsea will have to be just as perfect, if not even more perfect the rest of the way (starting with the massive Spurs away clash after the international break).
“We did everything to try to win. Sometimes it’s possible, sometimes it’s not, and we’re still there, trying to be at the top of the table so we’re going to fight until the end.”
It was a tiring, frustrating afternoon for the team on Sunday, as evidenced by David Luiz’s post-match interview with Chelsea TV, especially as Chelsea knew how Everton would likely approach the game. The veteran center back gave credit to the visitors’ effort, but also lamented our own poor luck in dropping the two points in the scoreless draw.
“We controlled the game. The marking from Everton was amazing. They blocked the space in the middle so we didn’t have a lot of combinations in the middle and from the sides, and in the end they were a bit lucky because we tried to score but didn’t score. [...] Most of the teams now come here with two lines and trying to lock us up so it’s up to us to find the way to score.”
-David Luiz; source: Chelsea FC
With just one goal in the last two games, Chelsea’s attack (as a whole) is under scrutiny for just about the first time all season, with Sarri sounding concerned as well. In a way, it’s a welcome change from the constant attention on defensive transition and individual defending.
But if we can put the two sides of the gameplan together consistently, we might just have a fighting chance in the end.