Jase

Next 6 Premier League games before 2021: Leeds (h) Everton (a) Wolves (a) West Ham (h) Arsenal (a) Aston Villa (h) How many wins there?

A reminder of the permutations for this game...

Sevilla 0-4 Chelsea PRE/POST-MATCH DISCUSSION, LIVE CHAT AND ANALYSIS 2020/21 Champions League Group Stage Matchday 5 2nd December, Wednesday 2020 Ramon Sanzhez-Pizjuan Stadium 20:00 Kick Off (UK time)

It wasn't the most exciting of offensive play but we still showed enough attacking intent and created chances for a game as close as this. Abraham should have scored at least 1 of the 3 chances he had and Giroud fluffed his lines at the end. Against a team that parked the bus, 1 goal was always gonna do it. We knew it was always gonna be a game of fine margins against an in-form Mourinho side and we just didn't take that one chance. It feels like Lampard is still searching for the balance in these big games and is channeling his inner Mourinho in the meantime. Last season, we looked vulnerable defensively but good going forward against the big teams. This season, it's been the opposite so far. We haven't been great going forward overall but have looked much more defensively secured at the back. Last season, we lost all the big games against United, Liverpool and City before beating Spurs and Arsenal. This season, we have lost against Liverpool (with 10 men) but gotten points against United and Spurs with Arsenal and City still to come. The expectation will be that we must win some of these games at the very least down the line but for the time being, it's good progress.

That's hardly difficult considering he's always standing by his own at the near post. Very rarely has anyone to challenge for the ball. Just need to clear it away from danger.

So last season has been erased from existence then? Based on today's evidence, the finishing touch just wasn't quite there. As long as we continue to create chances in these games, the goals will come.

Said it before and I will say it again, Abraham always looks so cumbersome whenever he gets the ball. Rarely able to control it properly the first time, be it with his head, body or legs. Needs several touches to do so more often than not and always looks like he's flopping around. Can get away with it against the lesser sides but not against the bigger ones.

1. Those results need some context. As you pointed out, we went down to 10 men against Liverpool. Against Sevilla and Man United, those games came immediately after the 3-3 draw against Southampton and we had BIG defensive problems, which made Lampard go safety first against the aforementioned two teams (even if the approach was slightly frustrating). There was more attacking intent against Spurs today but we weren't clinical inside the box. 2. They say it's important to not lose against your direct rival and it seems like Lampard has channeled his inner Mourinho in these big games. We have looked very solid defensively but not so good going forward - partly due to players still coming in and out. He's playing the 1 goal nicks it in these games, which after what we saw last season, it's not necessarily a bad thing. We do need to win a few of these games though. 3. We haven't scored against Liverpool, Sevilla, United and Spurs (excluding the League Cup) but we also have conceded only 2 goals, which came after we went down to 10 men. So, it's a bit of a half full, half empty glass situation at the moment.

By the way, Man United are supposedly shit but they are just 5 points off the top of the table (3 behind us!) and have a game in hand...

That is kinda contradicting when he went and scored a header out of nothing at Rennes.

The irony...

Important not to lose vs a Big 6 rival but that's 2 points dropped. Mourinho came, parked the bus and got what he wanted.

I get that we have another game on Wednesday but Werner off first before Abraham!?

Abraham looks so cumbersome every time he's in the box...

Our attacking play left a lot to be desired.

Being shit felt better than this!

Pulisic back on the bench. No CHO at all...

While it was funny to see Klopp went all batshit crazy, don't think he was wrong about what he said regarding the fixture schedule and 5 subs rule...

It's Liverpool. They always like to play the victim card.

If the likes of Sheffield United aren't careful, they could get really detached from the rest. There's already a small gap (2 games) between the bottom 4 and the rest.

Injured again...

Next week's match against Leeds is gonna be chaos...