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Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea fell further behind in the Premier League title race following a goalless draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday. The reigning European champions came into the match on the back of a 1-1 draw against Everton and were in desperate need of maximum points.
Unfortunately, their forwards decided to take a day off and caused Chelsea to go six points behind leaders Manchester City.
The traveling team were without three of their key forwards - Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, and Kai Havertz, with all of them testing positive for COVID-19. Coach Thomas Tuchel officially appealed for the clash to be postponed, but his request, much to his annoyance, was denied. Without any of the trio leading the line, Chelsea lacked penetration in the final third and had to settle for a solitary point.
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Except for N’Golo Kante, who dominated the middle of the park for Chelsea, almost every player in blue failed to live up to the billing. The five on our list here were particularly off-color on Sunday afternoon.
Here are the five Chelsea players who underperformed against Wolverhampton in Premier League gameweek 18:
#5 Mason Mount
Chelsea starlet Mason Mount did not have the best of games against Wolverhampton on Sunday afternoon. Deployed in a wide-right role, he spent the first half trying to understand the assignment and failed to make Wolves work with his passing.
His Chelsea team-mates also failed to incorporate him into play, resulting in a disjointed display in the final third.
Things changed for the better in the second half as Mount managed to get involved a little bit more. He pressed relentlessly and looked considerably sharper than in the first half.
Unfortunately, his work rate alone was not enough to put Chelsea ahead against a dogged Wolverhampton side.
#4 Cesar Azpilicueta
Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta started in his familiar right-central role in the clash against Wolves. He went up against Fernando Marcal at the Molineux Stadium and spent most of the afternoon trying to find his footing.
Marcal’s pace was too much for the veteran to handle and he was caught out on a couple of occasions as well. Azpilicueta’s link-up play also looked a little rusty in the first half, but it improved considerably as the match wore on.
Azpilicueta was quiet on the offensive front as well and did not feel comfortable enough to surge ahead regularly.
#3 Trevoh Chalobah
Chelsea midfielders Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jorginho picked up knocks in the midweek draw with Everton. The dependable pair were deemed unfit for the Blues’ trip to the Molineux, allowing Trevoh Chalobah to start alongside N’Golo Kante.
While the Frenchman once again produced a remarkable performance, Chalobah failed to do anything of note before coming off following a collision with Thiago Silva.
The young midfielder pretty much let the game pass him by in the first 45. His passing was unimaginative, he failed to cut out passing lanes, and even his pressing looked half-hearted at times.
He only completed 21 passes, did not provide a single key pass, and did not try his luck at goal even once. All in all, a disappointing night for the promising Englishman.
#2 Hakim Ziyech
Similar to Mason Mount, Hazik Ziyech also struggled to get himself involved in the game. To make matters worse, his work rate was not up to Chelsea’s standards, which made him a liability against Wolves.
Ziyech tried to use his footwork to get around the opposition, but even his evasive maneuvers were predictable.
Playing on the left side, Ziyech gave 22 accurate passes, lost possession 12 times, and only provided one key pass. Following his sub-par display and picking up an injury, Ziyech was taken off for Mateo Kovacic in the 65th minute.
#1 Christian Pulisic
With Lukaku, Werner, Havertz and even Callum Hudson-Odoi out of the squad, Christian Pulisic received another chance to put on a show for Chelsea. The American once again failed to make the opportunity count and spent the night trying to find his moment.
Pulisic was sharp without the ball and pressed brilliantly for the visiting side. Thanks to Wolves’ resistance, Pulisic was forced to stick to the left side of the pitch and rarely made inroads into the box.
In the 78th minute, Pulisic found himself at the end of a pretty decent goalscoring opportunity. He sidestepped Romain Saiss to go clear on Jose Sa’s goal but failed to get his shot away on time. The Wolves keeper rushed out of his line promptly to smother the opportunity and keep the game goalless.
Over the course of the match, Pulisic had only 30 touches, completed 14 passes, made no key passes, and lost possession a whopping 14 times.
If he keeps this up, Chelsea might seriously consider putting him on the transfer list and cutting their losses sooner rather than later.
