Chelsea boss, Graham Potter has broken Jose Mourinho Chelsea unwanted record as Ben Chilwell problem resurfaces
Due to the fact, Chelsea only had one fixture in December, we end our 2022 in-review series in November which proved to be a bad month for the Blues before the World Cup began.
Graham Potter raised eyebrows and garnered criticism for fielding a strong side in a dead rubber Champions League tie against Dinamo Zagreb at Stamford Bridge, only a few days before a pressurised clash with a confident Arsenal in the Premier League. Chelsea claimed a 2-1 victory with first-half goals coming through Raheem Sterling and Denis Zakaria. The cost though would arise in the closing moments.
Eerily similar to the season-ending injury almost a year before, Ben Chilwell pulled up with a hamstring issue, collapsing to the turf in pain and causing silence across the crowd. A win was achieved but the defining picture from the game would come through Chilwell being helped off the pitch, looking at Mason Mount with a defeated expression
Chilwell, like Reece James and Wesley Fofana before him, would be ruled out for the remaining three games and the World Cup too. It was adding another injury to a growing list. Kepa Arrizabalaga had also suffered a foot problem in the defeat at Brighton at the end of October, an issue that would also rule him out of action.
A 1-0 defeat to Arsenal with an abysmal performance greatly turned opinion on the team and Potter, dragging down a negative mood even more than it was already. It was a reflection of how far both clubs were apart in the Premier League despite the fact Chelsea had finished above their north London counterparts for the past five seasons. With that loss, there was now a 13-point gap between both sides and the performance suggested little was working at Chelsea.
A midweek Carabao Cup exit at Manchester City added to that negativity but was actually a more encouraging display, seeing Lewis Hall given a start and impressing. But it was another loss, a chance of silverware gone.
The final game before the break at Newcastle was more like Arsenal than City, Chelsea sitting deeper and not committing many bodies forward in search of a breakthrough. A 67th-minute Joe Willock strike condemned Chelsea to a third straight league defeat, the first time that had happened since December of 2015 under Jose Mourinho in that infamous season where the reigning champions were hovering above the relegation zone before Christmas.
It was a record Potter did not need. Chelsea went into the World Cup break in eighth place, 16 points from the summit and eight points off the Champions League places.
Attention then turned away from club football towards Qatar and how Chelsea players would fare for their nations.
