Chelsea’s title hopes took another big hit in their first league game of the New Year, with the Blues coming unstuck at the hands of their London rivals at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham Hotspur won 5-3 against the Premier League leaders on Thursday night to throw the title race wide open again, as second-placed Manchester City – who are the defending champions – went level on points with that of Jose Mourinho’s men after 20 games.
The defeat to Tottenham is only the second game Chelsea have lost all season, but it’s their second defeat away from home in their last four games on their travels. Chelsea’s home form has been perfection in the Premier League – winning all nine of their fixtures at Stamford Bridge. But away from their London ground, and the Blues continue to slip up.
Early into the season, Chelsea were holding the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United to draws at the Etihad and Old Trafford respectively, but poor results away from home have been commonplace ever since, dropping points in six of their last nine games on the road.
Such a woeful run of form has seen Manchester City make back an eight-point deficit in around six weeks, and the pressure is firmly on Chelsea and manager Jose Mourinho to turn things around. But their questionable results on the road has been a consistent theme since the Portuguese coach took over in his second stint at the Bridge.
Last season, Chelsea dropped points in 47% of their away games in the Premier League, which saw them miss out on the title. They finished four points adrift of City that campaign, despite finding themselves four points clear of the pack in March.
Mourinho’s men risk throwing it away again if they cannot address their poor away form that continues to blight their progress. Having such perfect home form means little if they drop points on the road so readily, as they are barely maintaining an advantage over their fellow title-chasers with such inconsistency.
Chelsea have completely relinquished their lead at the summit in a matter of weeks, and they face Manchester City in just 29 days. Not often will the Blues boss make drastic changes to his shape in a crisis, but he does often revert to a 4-3-3 when looking to keep things tight in a big game. Such a style could come into play more frequently now to ensure the Londoners stop dropping points so easily on the road.
With only three away wins since September, Chelsea’s flaw is obvious, but can Mourinho rectify their travel bug to maintain their fight for the Premier League title?
