It is not all gloom and doom at Stamford Bridge
Thanks to Manchester City and Brighton fighting to a draw and Newcastle not playing in the league, Chelsea are still holding on to a top four place. The grip on it is tenuous as Newcastle is two points behind in sixth with a game in hand and City are just a point behind in fifth but it is a grip nonetheless.
After the international break the Blues should be getting some important players back including two starting attackers in Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke. The Chelsea attack has been particularly toothless without Jackson and his absence, along with Marc Guiu’s, has coincided with major struggles in front of goal save for the match against Southampton.
The return of Jackson, Madueke, and Guiu will allow Maresca to get closer to his preferred starting XI and guys like Pedro Neto and Christopher Nkunku can revert back to their natural positions. This lack of attacking options has been terrible for Chelsea and Maresca has had to shuffle the deck far too many times which has not allowed for cohesion and consistency.
In addition to the return of key players, the April fixture list includes plenty of opportunities for points. The Blues will face Tottenham, Brentford, Ipswich, Fulham, and Everton in the league who are all decent sides but Chelsea should be favored in every match. This is no guarantee of success but it is a tremendous opportunity to improve that tenuous grip on a Champions League place.