Enzo Maresca's Chelsea, having won the Europa Conference League and Club World Cup in 2025, were looking to take the 2025/26 campaign by storm – but their latest result, a 2-1 loss to Sunderland at Stamford Bridge, suggests there is plenty of work to do before they can be considered a serious title challenger in the Premier League.
Alejandro Garnacho opened his Chelsea account in the fourth minute and sat on the advertising boards to mark his arrival, but the Argentine and his teammates were pegged back 18 minutes later by Wilson Isidor. With both sides searching for a winner, it was Sunderland's Chemsdine Talbi who produced the all-important moment.
With very little time left, Brian Brobbey found his Moroccan teammate with a pass inside, and he curled his effort into the bottom right corner with relative ease. Those in the away section cheered in jubilation, while those of a Chelsea persuasion were quick to point out two players who were 'absolute liabilites' in their 2-1 defeat.
Watch the highlights of Chelsea's 2-1 loss to Sunderland below:
Chelsea Fans Lose Patience with Two 'Absolute Liabilites' After 2-1 Loss to Sunderland
enzo maresca chelsea manager
As expected, the Blues – who are now eighth in the Premier League table – enjoyed the lion's share of possession while they also took 16 shots compared to Sunderland's ten. It wasn't enough, however, and the west Londoners have now lost three of their last five matches in England's top flight.
Sure, Chelsea are attempting to compete with a raft of injuries, but their performance on home soil left a lot to be desired. Benoit Badiashile was unavailable, Malo Gusto is fighting an illness, Chelsea fans will need patience as they await the return of Cole Palmer and Liam Delap is on the brink of returning from his injury.
Levi Colwill, however, is the player the Stamford Bridge faithful are missing the most – and that was made evident by how Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo dealt with Sunderland's last-minute pressure on Saturday afternoon.
As seen above, Brobbey – who Regis Le Bris' side signed from Ajax in the summer – had no issues shielding the ball from Adarabioyo deep in Chelsea territory. Chalobah, too, failed to track either runner into their box and Talbi was left unmarked before sweeping home the winner in the 93rd minute.
As expected, Chelsea fans are less than pleased. "They literally should never see the pitch again, I'm so serious. 26 and 28 year olds should NEVER make these kind of mistakes," one said as they came to terms with suffering with their third Premier League defeat of the 2025/26 campaign. Another wrote:
"This clip is everywhere. The staff at the club will 1000% see it. He cannot continue playing in the Premier League."
Not at the level expected by those in the stands and at home, 28-year-old Adarabioyo joined the club on a free from Fulham in the summer of 2024 and Chalobah is a graduate from Chelsea's celebrated Cobham academy. At the beginning of Maresca's tenure, the latter was evidently not part of the Italian manager's plan – but with persisting injuries at the heart of the backline, his hands are tied.
Another fan, taking to X (formerly Twitter), labelled the English duo 'absolute liabilites' as they understood their respective places in Maresca's pecking order. "This is the moment I realised why we got Tosin for free and why Chalobah wasn't in Maresca's plans at first. Absolute liabilities!"
Next up for Chelsea, they face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the League Cup in the week before travelling across the capital to face Thomas Frank's Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. A test against Qarabag in the Champions League then follows as they look to fight on all fronts for as long as possible.