Tottenham, Liverpool and both Manchester clubs dropped points on a bright Saturday for Chelsea fans. The Blues must show Hull City no quarter and start putting the title chase out of reach.
Fernando Llorente has been in the rumour mill so long he is already contributing to Chelsea’s title run. Llorente scored Swansea City’s first two goals against Liverpool, giving the Swans a 2-0 lead early in the second half. Liverpool equalized through Roberto Firmino before Gylfi Sigurdsson scored the winner.
Swansea’s win was the biggest result yesterday, denying Liverpool the chance to close the gap with Premier League leaders Chelsea. Elsewhere, Manchester City also blew a two goal lead to draw with Tottenham. And Stoke nearly rode out a Juan Mata own goal, but conceded a wondrous Wayne Rooney free kick to allow United to eke out a single point.
A win over Hull City will move the Blues at least eight points clear of second place, assuming Arsenal defeat Burnley. The worst case scenario – a Chelsea loss and Arsenal win – reduces their lead to five points.
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The prospect of going at least eight and possibly nine points clear should motivate Antonio Conte’s men to play as relentlessly, offensively and mercilessly as they know how against the 19th place Tigers. After this weekend only 16 games remain in the Premier League season. An eight point advantage means that Chelsea would need to drop points in three more games than hypothetical second-place Arsenal.
Chelsea have only dropped points in four games this season. Arsenal have done so in eight games, about 38%. Chelsea would need to substantially worsen their miss-rate while Arsenal would need to slash theirs in half to cover this gap.
Chelsea have much more wiggle room than Arsenal or the other challengers. That is the sort of thing we can get away with saying here. But it is anathema to Antonio Conte’s style and ambitions.
Both within games and across the remainder of the season Chelsea must continually pursue victories. Playing to not lose is the biggest risk the Blues could take. They could end the weekend with a six-point lead over Tottenham Hotspur, but only a +1 goal differential. If, somehow, the unthinkable occurs and Arsenal or Tottenham start closing the gap towards first, Chelsea need to have the backup advantage of goal differential.
Protecting a 1-0 or 2-0 lead, even against a team in the drop zone like Hull, is insufficient for the ultimate ambition. The Blues need to score five goals when they can as a hedge against those days when they can only muster a one goal win or worse.
Chelsea must go into every game determined to emerge with three points and a larger goal differential. They are familiar enough with Conte’s tactics and fit enough from their training to sustain a high-pressing, rapid attack game for the next 16 match days.
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Antonio Conte famously once blew up at his Juventus goalkeeper Giorgio Buffon for asking about bonuses, even though Juventus had already clinched the league. That same spirit at Chelsea will have him flying the blue flag of no quarter as warning to the rest of the Premier League.