Chelsea’s push for a Champions League return hangs by a thread, and the final seven match weeks of the 2024–25 Premier League season will test Enzo Maresca’s young Blues like never before. As of April 10, 2025, they cling to fourth with 53 points after 31 games, level with Newcastle United—who hold a game in hand that could vault them a point clear into the coveted fifth spot, now enough for UCL football next season thanks to England’s UEFA coefficient.
The west Londoners’ fate isn’t entirely their own, and with a fixture list that reads like a gauntlet—crowned by a May crucible against Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United, and Nottingham Forest—the margin for error is razor-thin. Fresh off a 3-0 demolition of Legia Warsaw in the Conference League quarter-final first leg, Chelsea have one foot in the semi-finals, but they’ll need to juggle their European campaign’s next steps alongside these domestic battles.
Ipswich Town (Home)
First up, Chelsea welcome Ipswich Town to Stamford Bridge, a chance to exorcise the demons of a shocking 2-0 loss at Portman Road in December 2024. The Tractor Boys have been dismal, languishing with just four wins and a -34 goal difference, losing 19 of 31 games this season.
On paper, this is a banker for the Blues, but that earlier upset looms as a cautionary tale—Maresca’s men can’t afford complacency if they’re serious about European ambitions. Stamford Bridge has been a fortress lately, and Chelsea should dispatch Ipswich with ease. Prediction: a comfortable Blues win.