Ian Wright finds it hard to see how Chelsea will remain in the Premier League top four come the end of the season after their latest defeat to Arsenal.
Mikel Merino’s first-half header was the difference at the Emirates on Sunday as Enzo Maresca’s side slid to their third defeat in their last five league games.
Missing key attacking players like Cole Palmer, Chelsea produced a flat attacking display and managed just three shots on goal in the entire 90 minutes.
Despite the defeat, the Blues remain in the top four but Wright is fearful that their lack of quality in both boxes means that clubs in the chasing pack will overtake them before the end of the season.
‘I watched Chelsea against Arsenal and I thought they were really poor in every aspect,’ the former Arsenal striker said on the Kelly and Wrighty show.
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‘Obviously, they’re very much missing Noni Maduke and Nicolas Jackson and obviously, Cole Palmer didn’t play.
‘They haven’t got anyone to stretch the team or anyone to control the game so as you can pass to these players who were doing so well at the start of the season.
‘They didn’t look like they were going to score yesterday and there’s no way you can be confident as a defender playing in front of Robert Sanchez.’
Wright continued: ‘There’s no way sitting here right now I can see a scenario as to how they are going to do it [get in the top four].
‘For me, if I’m Newcastle or Bournemouth or Brighton or anybody, I’m thinking this is the best chance we’ll have because I don’t think Chelsea will make it.’
Analysing Chelsea’s struggles further, Wright suggested that Sanchez’s inconsistencies between the sticks were hampering Chelsea’s efforts.
The Spaniard returned to the starting XI on Sunday having briefly lost his spot in the team, but turned in another questionable display and was almost caught out on several occasions.
‘You have a goalkeeper who you’re scared off and you don’t know if he’s going to save one or make a mistake and let one in and then you’ve got strikers who aren’t scoring,’ Wright added.
‘So if you let in a goal, you’re instantly thinking ‘we’re not going to win this’. Because Sanchez might make another mistake or they might miss another chance and it just completely demoralises everybody.’
Maresca, meanwhile, was hopeful that the return of key players will get his side back to their best after the international break.
‘It’s a huge difference if you think of the three players with most goals for us are Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke,’ he said post-match.
‘Not one of them was on the pitch today. For two of them, they have already been out a long time, so it is normal that offensively we struggle a little bit, even if – until today – we are the second or the third best attacking team in the league.
‘That means in any case we are doing well without those players but we could do better with the players that are injured at the moment.’
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