5 Things Chelsea have done wrong this season

Last season, Chelsea won the Premier League with a record of 30 wins and things were looking very bright for them under the former Juventus manager Antonio Conte. His 3-4-3 formation brought forth a sea of changes and the Blues went on to win their second Premier League title in three years.

This season, though, has been markedly different, as the additional pressure of performing in the Champions League added greater expectations going into the season.

Things haven't gone as per plan at Stamford Bridge. They are currently 25 points behind leaders Manchester City, and are currently fifth in the league table with their chances of making a top-four finish looking slim.

Things haven't been any better off the pitch either - the constant speculation around their talisman Eden Hazard joining Real Madrid refuses to go away and the future of Antonio Conte has also come under scrutiny, with rumors surfacing about PSG being keen to make him their new boss.

There are many things which the club did wrong in the beginning of this season and these mistakes have come back to haunt them.

Here's a look at five mistakes which have cost Chelsea dearly:

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#5 No cover for N'Golo Kanté

A dip in form for Kante is a dip in form for Chelsea

A player of N'Golo Kante's quality is very hard to find; not only does he covers a lot of ground, he is very smart in his positioning as well and uses his pace to launch counter-attacks for Chelsea.

He was an instrumental figure in Chelsea's 2016-17 Premier League triumph. He covered so much ground that it made life that much easier for Chelsea's already-great defense. Last season, there were no European nights for Chelsea as well, meaning that he was fresh week in and week out.

But this season when he was injured on international duty with France in October, Chelsea were struggling without him and the team with the best defense in the league last season looked like a team with no ideas.

A look at Chelsea's squad and the realisation dawns that they don't have any player close to replacing or providing cover for him; neither have any particular tactics have been employed to give him rest. Kante has been Kante for so long that it has finally caught up with him.

No wonder he is struggling in this part of the season, which has seen a dip in his form and reports surfaced that he fainted as well in Chelsea's dressing room - prompting him to miss the Manchester City game.

If Chelsea want a way back into the League or start the next season better, Kante is the key. Either they have to find someone who can relieve Kante of some of his duties, or change their way to relieve him of some of his duties.

#4 Alvaro Morata's not-so-splendid season

Despite starting the season on a high, Morata hasn't been among the goals of late

In the summer of 2017, Alvaro Morata joined Chelsea from Real Madrid for a club record-fee of £58 million plus add-ons.

A lot was expected of him, but it can be clearly said that he has failed to rise to the occasion with only 12 goals and 5 assists in 36 appearances in all competitions. He has also missed a lot of chances, as a result of which Antonio Conte has been forced to employed Eden Hazard in the False No. 9 role.

Though he has had his injury problems, there is no doubt that he has performed well below par.

At the start of the season, there were questions about whether he is good enough to lead the line for an entire season - something which he has never done in his career, and those doubts are turning out to be true.

At Juventus and Real Madrid, he was never the main man; so there was no pressure on him, but here he is the lone striker and seems like he is incapable of handling the pressure of it. With Olivier Giroud being signed as a back-up, some of the pressure will ease off him now.

However, not all is lost for Chelsea - Morata is still young and this is his first season in the PL. If time is all he needs to come back stronger, Chelsea must wait. They shouldn't wash their hands off him, only to see him come back and haunt them - a certain Egyptian and a Belgian come to mind.

#3 Not spending on quality players

Bakayoko's mistakes have been very expensive for Chelsea.

Chelsea nearly spent £230 million in the summer transfer window on Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger, Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater etc., while the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City splashed plenty of cash on quality players who have delivered for them.

With Chelsea, Bakayoko has been woeful and some of his mistakes on the field have been severely punished by opponents. Drinkwater is yet to justify his price tag and he has been given very little play time, while Rudiger was only now come into his fore

Only Zappacosta has been a good signing, as he has provided effective cover for Victor Moses in the right wing-back position.

With additional pressure of playing in Europe and aspirations of a top 4 finish, Chelsea should have spent on quality players and the fact that they have not could cost them at the end of the season.

#2 Not signing their first-choice transfer targets

Chelsea failed to sign many of their No.1 transfer targets this season.

Not only did Chelsea sign average players, last summer they missed out on key transfer targets as well.

It is believed that Manchester United snapped Lukaku from right under the noses of Chelsea and Chelsea's inability to re-sign Lukaku recently cost them 3 points at Old Trafford - Lukaku scored one and set up another as the Red Devils beat Chelsea 2-1.

The Blues major target for the left-wingback position was Alex Sandro and despite many bids, they were unable to convince Juventus to sell him as a result of which Marcos Alonso has had to put in double shifts for the club.

The Blues also missed out on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as he preferred Liverpool over them, as a result of which they had just four midfielders at the start of the season.

At the start of the season, they were also short of strikers - having only two recognized strikers in the squad, Morata and Batshuayi. They failed with a late bid for Fernando Llorente and he signed for Tottenham.

All these failed businesses were what prompted Conte to speak out against the board, and things have never been the same for Chelsea.

#1 Selling Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic

Diego Costa's goals were the main reason for Chelsea's title

Diego Costa's three-year stay in the Premier League came to end last summer. Many would say he was a nuisance, but one thing was for sure - he knew how to score plenty of goals.

At the age of 29, Costa is still at his peak and was a world-class striker when he was at Chelsea. It was not only his antics that got attention, but his performances as well. Last season his goals got them 15 points in the Premier Leauge.

This season they have mainly relied on Eden Hazard whenever they have been in trouble, but last season they had a match winner who was capable of scoring crucial goals for them - something they have missed largely this season.

Nemanjic Matic's loss is also very painful for Chelsea fans as he joined their direct title rivals Manchester United. His replacement Bakayoko has been awful and Matic is being clearly missed in the Chelsea midfield.

Matic's clever positioning meant that Kante could roam free when Matic stayed behind, and vice versa; Kante really flourished with his former partner-in-crime. Chelsea has been leaking goals very frequently this season, something that was not seen at Stamford Bridge under Conte when Matic was there.