Is Chelsea in crisis?

29/09/2025 07:59:00 SportScoop

The 1-3 home defeat to Brighton last weekend marked Chelsea’s third loss in their last four matches. This slump in form is clearly visible to coach Enzo Maresca, signaling an early warning of a disastrous season at Stamford Bridge.

Including the recent match, "The Blues" have conceded 11 goals in 5 games across all competitions in September and have not kept a clean sheet in any match. Why has a Chelsea team once tipped to compete for the Premier League title fallen off so rapidly?

Winning the FIFA Club World Cup in the U.S. was a major morale boost for Chelsea but also caused the absence of two crucial players: Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer. They were Chelsea’s standout players in the tournament, but the demanding schedule led to serious injuries. Colwill suffered a ligament injury, sidelining him for most of the season, while Palmer has a groin problem and will be out until late October.

Without Colwill, Chelsea’s defense has serious issues as Maresca struggles to find a reliable center-back pairing. Trevoh Chalobah was supposed to take advantage of Colwill’s long absence to demonstrate growth but instead became the scapegoat in two consecutive matches. Chalobah’s poor positioning led to goalkeeper Sanchez’s early red card in the loss to Manchester United. In the defeat to Brighton, the 26-year-old defender was penalized for a foul on Diego Gomez, although the root cause was a momentary lapse by Andrey Santos. Chalobah is suspended, Fofana and Tosin are injured, and Badiashile has just returned, leaving Chelsea’s defense shockingly fragile.

Maresca’s poor personnel choices in two consecutive matches where Chelsea played with a man down have worsened the situation.

Palmer’s injury is no less serious than Colwill’s. Chelsea signed several attackers—Pedro, Estevao, Bynoe-Gittens, and Garnacho—to lessen the reliance on Palmer, who scored 58 goals in 98 Premier League appearances. Familiar attacking partners like Madueke and Jackson have left. Neto and Pedro combined well with Palmer in the FIFA Club World Cup but failed to score in September, while Estevao, Bynoe-Gittens, and Garnacho need time to settle in.

Most importantly, Maresca’s poor game-reading skills are worsening Chelsea’s slump. The Italian coach blamed his players for "gifting" goals to opponents, but he himself miscalculated when playing with a man down, a mistake seen in the loss to Manchester United and repeated against Brighton. When Welbeck equalized for Brighton, Maresca replaced Neto with defensive midfielder Lavia while still a man down. He had also substituted the Portuguese forward early after Sanchez’s red card against Manchester United to add Tosin to defense.

Maresca’s substitutions aimed at strengthening the defense backfired, giving Manchester United and Brighton chances to score and win. Chelsea’s board entered the dressing room after the match, signaling their concern over Maresca’s start to the season despite heavy summer spending. If no solution is found to stop the crisis in the upcoming games against Benfica and Liverpool, talk of Maresca’s firing will emerge.

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