10 unbelievable stats that sum up Chelsea’s diabolical form

Nestor Watach • 28 Oct 2023

Chelsea suffered yet more frustration as local rivals Brentford came away from Stamford Bridge with a 2-0 victory.

Recent weeks have seen Mauricio Pochettino’s project threaten to burst into life, but results remain forthcoming. The club have famously spent heavily under new owner Todd Boehly but that has yet to translate into on-pitch success.

The Blues now find themselves 14 points behind table-toppers Tottenham and could end up 11 points adrift of the top four come the end of the weekend, leaving them a mountain to climb if they’re to achieve their ambition of getting back into the Champions League.

Ethan Pinnock put Brentford ahead midway through the second half. Chelsea created chances to equalise but were once again profligate with their finishing and paid the price as Brentford rubbed salt into their wounds by scoring on the counter in the dying seconds.

“After the first half should score and we should,” Pochettino told reporters in his post-match press conference.

“If you don’t score you should blame yourself. We were not clinical. Sometimes you need luck and after for sure the game changed in the second half. We cannot concede this type of goal.”

Here are 10 stats that sum up Chelsea’s woes:

– Chelsea’s squad cost five times as much as Brentford’s and their wage bill is almost four times as much. Thomas Frank’s Bees finished 15 points ahead of Chelsea last season and have taken 10 points from their last four matches against them.

Unbelievable! 🤩

Robert Sanchez leaves his goal to come up for a Chelsea corner and Brentford break away into the open net! 😲 pic.twitter.com/IgRTPUAw4K

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 28, 2023

– Brentford have won on each of their last three visits to Stamford Bridge. Ethan Pinnock has more league wins (three) at Stamford Bridge than the Premier League’s all-time most expensive signing, Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez (two) – via the brilliant @RichJolly.

– Brentford (two) have won more Premier League matches than Chelsea (one) at Stamford Bridge over the past seven months. The 3-0 against Luton in August is their only win in their last 13 home league outings.

– Of the 17 ever-presents in the Premier League in 2023, only Everton and Bournemouth have taken fewer points. Chelsea are averaging fewer than a point per game over the course of the calendar year (32 points from 33 games).

– The defeat to Brentford was the first time this season that the opposition have created more xG (expected goals) than Chelsea.

– Their underlying statistics aren’t especially bad – only Everton (-8.66) have a bigger expected goals underperformance than Chelsea (-6.23), which suggests that their finishing is a chronic issue.

– Pochettino has a win percentage of just 41% – five wins, three draws and four defeats from 12 matches so far. Of permanent appointments, only Glenn Hoddle (34%) and Graham Potter (39%) have a worse record in the Premier League era.

– Chelsea have registered 139 shots and 85 from inside the penalty area, but only 44 have been on target and only 13 have resulted in goals. The Blues have scored fewer goals than West Ham and Brentford and 10 fewer than Aston Villa.

– Pochettino’s men registered 17 shots against Brentford, but only two were on target as they drew a blank.

– Chelsea are yet to play five of the top eight. Their next five league fixtures are Tottenham (A), Man City (H), Newcastle (A), Brighton (H) and Manchester United (A).

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Chelsea’s top scorer for every Premier League season?

Mauricio Pochettino Quick Reads Chelsea