Former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot was on ESPN this week where he was asked about what he thought his old team’s aims were for the season. Can they make the top four and qualify for the Champions League?
“It definitely can happen. They have the opportunity to get there. The focus is on getting to the Champions League next season,” Melchiot replied.
“This isn’t an objective like ‘oh let’s go for the title,’ no. Champions League is what the focus should be, and there’s definitely an opportunity, and the way Maresca is building this team, it looks more like a team than just individuals.”
You can see the pundits discussing Chelsea in the clip embedded here, with this answer coming after 3 minutes:
Odds back up Melchiot claims of Chelsea’s top 4 push
The presenter then pulled up the odds, which now show Chelsea as odds on to reach the top four. Preseason they were fancied, but not as much as they are now. If Manchester United struggle to get going under new manager Ruben Amorim, and if Aston Villa and Tottenham continue to drop points regularly, we can really cement our situation in the next few weeks.
However, it won’t be easy. Not only do we face Villa and Tottenham in the next few weeks, we’re also going to see the teamwork which Melchiot praises getting tested severely.
The players like Christopher Nkunku and Joao Felix who aren’t getting first team looks are starting to get agitated, and things could turn nasty pretty quickly if that’s combined with some bad results.
On the other hand, keep winning and we could actually shake ourselves free of the pack by the time Christmas rolls around. That’s why this next slew of games is going to be so interesting.
