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Although Chelsea didn't entirely destroy their chances of ending up in the highest eight places of the European competition opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own hopes of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Naturally, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved competition, securing a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Central Problem: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed since their loss in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, followed by a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, Chelsea have been defeated by Leeds, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a average team from Serie A.

Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a team selection approach that appears to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team incessantly, the Chelsea head coach maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“I think tonight, first XI, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they play against Barca, they played against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he droned. “We had eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you look at the several alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to win their final two group games. First up, they welcome this season’s surprise package a Cypriot team, then travel back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we try to play the extra round and then go to the next round,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a match against an Everton team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the surprising position of the top half in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me turning pro in golf. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he forced me to start on golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium that they were always going to. Just arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I see that one correspondent not only got Tuesday’s letter o’ the day, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the regularity of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.