Club football returns this weekend as Chelsea takes on Manchester City, a fittingly massive game to open this stretch of the season.
Yet another international break is over, leaving us with uninterrupted club football for the next few months. Frank Lampard’s boys have a considerable task in their hands as Chelsea visit the Etihad to face Premier League champions, Manchester City.
The last two visits are something no Blues fan want to remember. In the 2017/18 season, Antonio Conte’s team produced one of the worst displays by a Chelsea side as their succumbed to a 1-0 defeat. Then last year it was the club’s heaviest loss in the Roman Abramovich era, as Pep Guardiola’s team humiliated Maurizio Sarri’s Blues to win 6-0.
Fans will be expecting a better showing from the team this time around. Chelsea, who is currently ahead of Manchester City in the Premier League, is on a six-match winning streak. And they are not only winning, but playing very exciting football as well.
Frank Lampard will be very much aware of the fact City will be demanding nothing other than three points to stay in the title race. They are already nine points behind league leaders, Liverpool. Chelsea failed to win against top six rivals Manchester United and Liverpool already this season. This is a mini-streak the Blues desperately want to end this weekend.
Chelsea’s campaign in the 2018/19 season started similarly well under Maurizio Sarri. They had relatively easy fixtures at the beginning. But once the fixtures started to get tougher, Chelsea started to drop points. If not for Arsenal, United and Tottenham Hotspur all putting in mediocre performances in the second half of the season, Chelsea would have finished outside the top four easily.
Last season’s dependency on others’ results make it critical for Chelsea to prevent a similar scenario this time. They nonetheless have fixtures against Everton, West Ham, Tottenham and Arsenal remaining in the first half of the season. Despite those teams’ current form, they are never easy. The visit to Spurs will be even more crucial with Jose Mourinho in charge of the north London team.
Frank Lampard also has to make sure his team is through to the Champions League Round of 16. The Blues head to Valencia on Wednesday to face one of three teams in Group H with seven points. A win would move them ahead of Valencia on points and level them on the first tiebreaker of head-to-head record. The continuing return of injured players will provide Lampard the best kind of headache as the matches come thick and fast.
Hopefully, the team will be more than ready for the following couple of months that could define their season. If everything goes well, Chelsea could still mount a title challenge.