Manchester City finally slipped up in the way so many Chelsea fans have been waiting to see. They took a beating at the City Ground, losing 3-1 to Nottingham Forest, meaning that Xabi Alonso’s Blues have a sliver of hope for second place after City’s third consecutive Premier League defeat.
Arsenal had put themselves in a good position earlier on. Martin Odegaard’s strike in the 72nd minute gave them a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Hull, their fifth consecutive league win. They are now 6 points ahead on 27 points. Tottenham, who beat us 2-0 last month, lost 1-0 to Leeds, so they’re stuck in midtable obscurity.
After a blistering start to the season, City lost at Aston Villa and at home to Brighton. Forest then made it three losses in a row, with City academy product Liam Delap scoring twice. Having failed to score a league goal at home all season, Forest scored three, two of them through Delap. It was a slight joy to see Maresca, who we know well from West London, putting out excuses for his third consecutive defeat.
Arsenal are currently sitting atop the league on 27 points, with City on 21, Brighton on 19 and us on 16 points. We have played 9 games so far, winning 5, drawing 1 and losing 3. We have scored 19 goals and conceded 15.
If we can win at the Stadium of Light, we go up to 19 points. This puts us 2 points behind City, with both sides having played 10 games. Brighton, who have a 2pm kick-off, are playing at home to Brentford. If they win, they go up to 22 points, putting them in second place. Either way, we will still be sitting in fourth place: a Brighton win puts them three points clear of us, and even if they lose, their goal difference of +17 is far bigger than our +4. However, we will be much closer to Man City.
Despite them being at the bottom of the league with just 5 points from 9 games, Sunderland did the double over us last season. We have only won once in our last five games at Wearside. However, Regis Le Bris’s team lost to Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday, while we have had a rest all week.
Leeds come to Stamford Bridge on November 21st. If we win, we will have two weeks to look at the table and see that we are two points off second place (three if Brighton win).
Xabi Alonso Praises Romeo Lavia
Xabi Alonso praised Romeo Lavia after we beat Manchester United 2-0 on October 31st. He said that the midfielder had an excellent game and his mental qualities were now matching his physical talent. Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer (penalty) scored in the second half to earn us the points and move up to fourth place. Lavia was outstanding in midfield and kept United on the back foot.
As we go to Wearside this afternoon, Lavia’s form is even more important. Moises Caicedo missed training this week due to a slight problem. He is going to have a late fitness test. Now, Lavia, a midfielder who has had a stop-start career at Chelsea due to injury issues, seems to be key to Alonso’s plans.