The 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace extended Chelsea's worrying streak. The Blues struggled to convert their advantage into a goal and were later punished for that waste.
They took a 1-0 lead and played quite comfortably at Selhurst Park. Cole Palmer's calm finish in the 14th minute after Jadon Sancho's excellent pass helped Chelsea gain an advantage. Palace played shakyly for most of the first half with very few chances.
However, Chelsea could not increase the gap and eventually had to pay a heavy price. Jean- Philippe Mateta had a good combination with Ismaila Sarr and Eberechi Eze in the 82nd minute to score the equalizer 1-1. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had envisioned this scenario but could not avoid it.
"For me, it's not the rankings, it's about how we can improve things. Today, for me, the performance was very good, both with and without the ball. You always have games where you play well but you can't win," Maresca said after the draw with Palace.
Maresca insists Chelsea cannot be considered title contenders, even though they were just two points behind leaders Liverpool in mid-December. They have since drawn 0-0 with Everton, lost to Fulham and Ipswich Town, and were held to a draw by Palace.
In every match, except the match against Fulham, Chelsea have a higher expected goals (xG) than their opponents. In 4 matches, Chelsea have had 61 shots compared to 39 of their opponents.
"The important thing is to create opportunities, to do them means we are playing well. But the players need to take advantage of the opportunity to win. This is definitely an area we need to improve to become one of the strongest teams" - the Italian strategist said.
With his goal against Palace, Palmer has scored 13 goals in the Premier League this season. And by round 20 of the Premier League, The Blues also had 39 goals, 1 more than the whole previous season.
Overall, Maresca has brought Chelsea a certain level of calmness this campaign. This is a seemingly luxury at Stamford Bridge since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed the acquisition in May 2022.
In the end, Chelsea are not the only team that needs Liverpool to lose themselves to create a tense title race in the second half of the season. However, it would be more realistic if Maresca focused on the top 4 race, just as he has always assessed the strength of The Blues.
