January is over, the transfer window is closed, and Chelsea will now have to start working with what they have (apart from Andrey Santos, who can still be registered if he gets a work permit).
The excuses about new players bedding in will only grow less relevant, and the pressure on the team to start racking up wins will only grow.
Do you think Graham Potter’s new look Chelsea can put together a run and finish in the top 4? If you do, now the the time to back it and bet in new-zealand with bet365, or wherever you are. Your odds won’t get much better than this.
With just over half the season played, Chelsea are 10th with 31 points. We’ve got to catch Newcastle, on 41. It’s not impossible, but it will requite a pretty astonishing transformation from a team who have won twice in the league since mid October
It’s not just a question of the 10 point gap – it’s a question of actually winning games. It would be a challenge to close that difference if we were in good form – as it is, we’ve beaten Crystal Palace and Bournemouth since the World Cup.
You could say that we’ve got some easier games coming up – Southampton next weekend, managerless Leeds after that, Leicester and then Everton.
But looking at our results from the last couple of weeks shows that playing weaker sides doesn’t guarantee you anything – except dismay if you drop points. Some of these teams are in a bad way – but that only means they’ll be more desperate for points than ever, and we don’t look like a side up for the fight at the moment.
No wonder the odds on us making the Champions League places are so high – we’d have to catch high-flying Newcastle to do it. They look more likely to build on their lead than fumble it at the minute. Ahead of them are Man U, Man City and Arsenal, all of whom are having great seasons and none of whom look likely to crumble to the degree they would need to for us to catch them.
So for a Chelsea bettor, perhaps the best thing to do is to have a flutter, knowing it’s a long shot, then sit back and enjoy watching this team gradually come together over the course of the next few months, without worrying too much about where we finish.
Besides, we hear the Conference League is lovely at this time of year…
