Chelsea fixtures: Next five games after Arsenal defeat
The end of a season which promised so much cannot come soon enough for Chelsea.
Back in the summer of 2022, when Thomas Tuchel was still at the helm and Todd Boehly had taken it upon himself to act as interim sporting director, there was an undercurrent of tentative optimism when Chelsea splashed almost £250m during the summer transfer window - the most of any club in Europe's top five leagues.
A similarly extravagant window in January only served to underline the scattergun transfer strategy. Now, with a month before one of the worst seasons in Chelsea's modern history concludes, the focus is on which purchases the club will - or can -offload.
Here's what lies ahead for Chelsea's motley crew.
Bournemouth vs Chelsea - Premier League
Gary O'Neil has had the impact at Bournemouth that Chelsea's bumbling board desperately hoped Frank Lampard may inspire.
However, while O'Neil has outperformed his compatriot in the dugout, he was routinely bested on the pitch. The two English managers met in the Premier League 12 times, with Lampard's Chelsea winning all of the dozen meetings, keeping 11 clean sheets in the process.
- 06/05/23 - Bournemouth vs Chelsea (15:00)
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Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest - Premier League
Despite going more than two decades in different divisions, Chelsea have hosted Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge five times this century in England's cup competitions.
Forest lost each knockout tie and have not beaten the Blues in the capital since Stan Collymore nabbed a brace in January 1995.
- 13/05/23 - Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest (15:00)
Manchester City vs Chelsea - Premier League
After losing his opening two games during his first spell at Chelsea, Lampard revealed that Pep Guardiola reached out with an encouraging voice note "saying that the way my team played was incredible, 'I loved watching it', and it was a really positive chat".
Guardiola may not be so full of praise after Chelsea's performances during Lampard's second spell but he will get the chance for an awkward face-to-face chat with the Premier League Hall of Famer later this month.
- 21/05/23 - Manchester City vs Chelsea (16:00)
Manchester United vs Chelsea - Premier League
Right at the start of the run which offered no points but Guardiola's praise, Lampard's debut match as Chelsea manager was a wildly misleading 4-0 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2019.
Chelsea were indeed the better side for large swathes of a contest which ultimately ended in the club's heaviest opening-day defeat in 104 league seasons. This toothless iteration of the Blues have the capacity to record the same result this month but are unlikely to match that performance.
- 25/05/23 - Manchester United vs Chelsea (20:00)
Chelsea vs Newcastle - Premier League
After navigating a spiky contest in November to win 1-0 at St James' Park, Newcastle have the chance to beat Chelsea home and away for the first time in the same Premier League season.
The Blues have not lost to the Magpies at Stamford Bridge since Papiss Cisse's ridiculous double a decade ago. However, you have to spool back to the 1986/87 season to find the last time that Newcastle did the double over Chelsea.
- 28/05/23 - Chelsea vs Newcastle (16:30)
Date / Kick-off time | Fixture |
|---|---|
06/05/23 - 15:00 | Bournemouth vs Chelsea |
13/05/23 - 15:00 | Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest |
21/05/23 - 16:00 | Manchester City vs Chelsea |
25/05/23 - 20:00 | Manchester United vs Chelsea |
28/05/23 - 16:30 | Chelsea vs Newcastle |
On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Chelsea's likely appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, the carnage at Tottenham and Harry Kane's next steps, David de Gea and Harry Maguire's Man Utd futures, Lionel Messi's impending Barcelona return & more!
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