Chelsea were beaten 2-1 at Leicester City on Monday night to make it a staggering nine defeats in just 16 league games. A win for Sunderland this weekend could take them out of the bottom three and level on points with Chelsea. Who would have thought that something like that would be said at this stage of the season? Optimistic Sunderland supporters, maybe, but Chelsea supporters? Highly unlikely, but here we are, the weekend before Christmas and Chelsea are sitting 16th in the table with just 15 points, one league win their last seven games and now without a manager.
Can Chelsea’s Problems Give Sunderland Hope?
After Chelsea’s latest defeat the now ex-manager Jose Mourinho tried to come up with a reason as to why they have suffered this season: “One of my best qualities is to read the game for my players and I feel like my work was betrayed,” said Mourinho. “One possibility is that I did an amazing job last season and brought the players to a level that is not their level and now they can’t maintain it.” With regards to his future at the club Mourinho added, “I want to stay and I hope Mr Roman Abramovich and the board want me to stay because I want to stay.”
Fast forward a few short days after these comments where made and Chelsea decided enough was enough and sacked José Mourinho, ending his second spell in charge of the club. Will this pile even more pressure on Chelsea or will it see an instant change in fortunes as seen so many times at other clubs after a sacking has occurred? Full time on Saturday will give us a clearer picture.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash, Sam Allardyce said that “Jose going is a shock, but we’re all bound by winning matches. If we don’t, we all lose our job. I’m not sure whether his departure makes it harder or not for us. Everybody expects a reaction when a manager gets sacked.
Chelsea have had a torrid time of things all season, from the Swansea game which was their first game of the season, where Mourinho was furious with Doctor Eva Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn for treating the injured Eden Hazard. It’s a storm which gathered pace quickly and is still hanging around the club to their inability to beat teams that they have been dispatching with relative ease in recent seasons.
Sunderland go into this game on the back of two defeats: 3-1 at Arsenal, where the Black Cats performed well and the score line flattered the hosts, and a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to Watford. Before this Sunderland had secured back to back victories over Crystal Palace and Stoke City to lift them temporarily out of the relegation zone and give themselves a much needed confidence and points boost ahead of a tough December.
Sunderland’s Scottish international striker Steven Fletcher said this about the upcoming Chelsea fixture, “We can’t go there and underestimate them because they’re still Chelsea and they still have the same players they did last year, so they’re a world-class team and we need to go into the game with a good game plan”.
Chelsea, the defending Premier League champions are hurting and a response from their players must be round the corner sooner rather than later if they are to get anything out of this season.
With Sunderland involved in a tough set of fixtures throughout December, a result from this weekend’s game after two straight defeats against Arsenal and Watford could give them the massive confidence boost required ahead of their festive fixtures. After Chelsea, they face Manchester City, who will be desperate to keep up with leaders Leicester City after an inconsistent run of results and they also play Liverpool who will be hoping for better fortune on this trip to the North East after their loss to Sunderland’s rivals Newcastle earlier in the month.
Can Sunderland get something from the game at Stamford Bridge on Saturday? They’ve done it before and on recent form and performances they do have a chance. Chelsea are down but not quite out, and Sunderland could pile even more misery onto all at Chelsea and give their new manager, whoever he is, even more to think about if they can take advantage, pick up the points and send the travelling fans home very happy.
