Chelsea on Tuesday night fell to a second successive Premier League defeat, proving Frank Lampard right to poor cold water on the premature title challenge talk.
It remains early days, with the season just a third of the way through, but Chelsea have already failed to beat many of the teams around them; also losing to the Premier League champions and being held by Spurs, Manchester United and high-flying Southampton.
In fact, of the 13 games they have played this season, their six victories have all come against teams sitting 12th or lower in the standings, while only a 93rd-minute equaliser saw them snatch a point at lowly West Brom having fallen three goals down.
It's a concerning statistic for Lampard and one which is brought into starker light considering his £220million summer spending spree, a large portion of which went on attacking talent in the form of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech.
Chelsea’s struggles against the top half
- Liverpool (H): 2-0 loss
- Southampton (H): 3-3 draw
- Man United (A): 0-0 draw
- Tottenham (H): 0-0 draw
- Everton (A): 1-0 loss
- Wolves (A): 2-1 loss
Werner has four goals in 12 league games thus far, along with a number of memorable misses, while both Havertz and Ziyech's lack of return have in large part been due to fitness issues.
Up next for Chelsea is a London derby against West Ham, who are enjoying a fine run of form and currently sit seventh, then it's across the capital to face Arsenal, who are enduring their worst start to a season in a generation. One loss and one win, then?
