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Chelsea have been one of the most successful clubs in England over the past few years. They have won five Premier League titles in the last fifteen years, rivalling Manchester United's dominance in the most competitive league on the planet.
Also, a total of 16 trophies in the last fifteen years, has placed the Blues amongst the elite European clubs.
However, the team also possess the tendency to fail miserably following a title-winning season like in the 2012-2013 season after winning the Champions League, the 2015-16 season under Jose Mourinho, and this season under Antonio Conte.
Now, let us look at the 5 reasons why Chelsea's form has declined in 2017-18 season
#1 Over-reliance on Eden Hazard
Eden Hazard is definitely one of the marquee players of the Premier League and is touted to be one of the top contenders of the Ballon d'Or alongside Neymar, Harry Kane, Kevin de Bruyne and Philippe Coutinho after the Messi-Ronaldo era.
He has been Chelsea's best player this season, just like in the title-winning seasons of 2014-15 and 2016-17. He has scored 15 goals so far and has chipped in with six assists, leading Chelsea's charge in most of the games.
The pressure of performing in each and every game has taken its toll on the diminutive Belgian. This has been evident in the recent few games, including the Champions League game at Camp Nou against Barcelona.
Stats reveal that Chelsea definitely lose the game if Hazard fails to make an impact. Adding to his worries, he is often used by Antonio Conte in the 'False 9' position instead of his natural left-winger position where he functions to a devastating effect.
#2 The absence of Diego Costa
In June of 2017, Costa had a fallout with manager Antonio Conte and since then, things have gone downhill for Chelsea. The Spaniard didn't play even a single game for Chelsea this season, before transferring to his old club Atletico Madrid in January.
Costa is blessed with the capability of holding up play and battling out with defenders, before sending the ball into the back of the net with a deft finish.
He was a perfect fit for the physical Premier League, scoring 52 goals in 89 appearances for Chelsea over the course of three seasons.
He has found his goal-scoring touch back at Atletico, and has scored five goals and made two assists since joining them earlier this year.
Alvaro Morata may be the perfect No.9, but Chelsea could have done much better with Costa right now.
#3 Inability to purchase marquee players
Football pundits hailed Conte for ushering in a new era in Premier League when he won the title with Chelsea in the 2016-17 season using the unusual 3-4-3 formation.
Conte was keen to bolster his options in all the three segments of the team - attack, midfield and defense. Chelsea purchased Alvaro Morata for a club record of £58 million from Real Madrid, and Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco for £40 million.
Arturo Vidal of Bayern Munich, Edin Dzeko of AS Roma and Alex Sandro of Juventus were sought after by Conte, but all the transfers collapsed. Players like them improve the team's quality, and not being able to land them has affected Chelsea a lot.
Instead, the club signed Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud, Leicester's midfielder Danny Drinkwater and Roma's left-back Emerson Palmieri. None of them has been able to establish themselves so far, like other newcomers Davide Zappacosta and Ross Barkley.
Repeatedly, the manager has expressed his displeasure at the board for tying his hands while spending money on better players.
#4 The void left by the departure of Nemanja Matic
Just like Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic left for greener pastures in July 2017. Manchester United's manager Jose Mourinho happily added him to his team, and he has established himself as the pivot of United's midfield. Precisely, this is why he was so important for Chelsea.
Matic rejoined Chelsea from Benfica in 2014 for a fee of £21 million and quickly became the midfielder who would play a vital role in Blues' run to become Premier League Champions in 2014-15.
He allowed Cesc Fabregas to operate easily by moving into spaces and providing perfect passes for Costa, Hazard and Willian to score. He was responsible for the transition from attack to defense. In 2016-17, he built a strong partnership with N'Golo Kante and Chelsea reclaimed the title.
Chelsea purchased Bakayoko and Drinkwater to fill in the void left by Matic's departure, but they haven't been able to do that. That has hurt Chelsea's run as defending champions this season.
#5 The breakdown of the 3-4-3 formation
Every team that marks its dominance in world football, is studied thoroughly and broken down by opposing teams eventually. The same happened with Arsenal Wenger's 'Invincibles' Arsenal of 2004, Pep Guardiola's 'Golden Barcelona'.
Conte revolutionized the Premier League with his 3-4-3 formation and built a team of winners from the same team, that was left in ruins by Mourinho. The team used a 3-4-3 formation during the counter and flawlessly switched to a 5-4-1 during the defence. Since then, a dozen teams have copied the formation but to a lesser perfection.
However, teams have worked out solutions for it as even minnows like Watford and Bournemouth managed to defeat Chelsea this season.
