Chelsea’s fixture list this season has been a little odd this season.
They had a run of 4 games in 5 at home, then two separate runs of 3 games in a row playing away. An extra twist on that is that they’ve won more points away than at home in the Premier League.
Enzo Maresca was asked in his press conference last night about whether he was “bothered” by the challenge of three away games in a row consecutively.
Maresca brushes off away game concerns
Enzo Maresca speaks about Chelsea's game against Bournemouth.
Enzo Maresca speaks about Chelsea’s game against Bournemouth.
“Yes, in terms of playing away, we won more points away than at home in the Premier League. In the Champions League, as you said, we played two games, we drew and lost, but in the end I think it’s always things that balance out a bit at the end of the season,” the manager said,
“As far as away games are concerned, I’m not saying we’re used to it, because it’s hard to get used to, but not just away games, because there’s no time between one game and the other. We played two days ago, we played two days before, but we’re trying to adapt.”
While our results might not necessarily be worse away from home, one feels that the travel involved in three consecutive away games might start to take its toll in a way which one game wouldn’t create. There’s another triple header coming up in January when we head to Man City, Fulham and then Charlton – but two of those games are in London.
In other news…
With several players out, Enzo Maresca was asked whether he would consider bringing Raheem Sterling back into the fold. You can probably imagine his response to that already…
Alejandro Garnacho is likely to start tonight, and we’d love a big performance from him. He’s done well, but as Enzo Maresca has said, there’s certainly more to come from the summer signing.
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Josh Acheampong with a Chelsea logo.
Enzo Maresca speaks about Chelsea's game against Bournemouth.
A generic group photo of Chelsea.