Chelsea faces Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul on Wednesday. The Blues’ history in these games is no more encouraging than their form going into it.
Chelsea’s recent history in the one-off cup games is really poor. Since winning the FA Community Shield in 2009, they have lost every other one-off game, something that is not talked about much by the Chelsea faithful.
After winning the UEFA Champions League in 2012, the Blues went into the next season with seven trophies in their sights: Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. But as strange it seems, they went on to win only one title, and that was the one from the only competition they were not in when the season started. After finishing third in the group stage of the Champions League, they had to settle into the Europa League round of 32, from which they progressed to their first Europa League title.
The Blues failed to win the three “standalone” trophies that season. Even though there are two matches to be played in FIFA Club World Cup, the only challenging match for the European clubs was the tie with the South American champions. The Blues missed out on the FA Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup, as well as the UEFA Super Cup the next year as well.
While the performance in the 2012 Super Cup was a disaster, the one next season was promising despite Ramires’s red card and Romelu Lukaku’s crucial penalty miss in the shootout.
Considering the current form of either teams, it won’t be a surprise if the result is similar to 2012.
Frank Lampard’s team is struggling since preseason to keep the ball out of their goal. Liverpool are a much better side than United, so the task will only be tougher for the men in blue.
The only “positive” for Chelsea will be the absence of Allison Becker due to injury. But Chelsea themselves have many important players currently out injured. Even though N’Golo Kante, Antonio Rudiger and Willian have started training, it is unlikely they will have a large involvement on Wednesday.
The recent history and form are all against Chelsea. Since the 2009 Community Shield, the Blues have won multiple Premier League titles, domestic cups and two European cups. But they lost the resultant five Community Shields and two UEFA Super Cups. If they can defy the odds and break this decade-long losing streak in one-off games, it will be massive for the young team going forward this season.
A title so soon in his young managerial career will be a bonus for Lampard as well.