Chelsea nightmare fixture run-in confirmed as Champions League race intensifies

It almost seemed irrelevant how Chelsea performed on Sunday afternoon, as long as they got the job done. They managed to complete that job – in the most dramatic of circumstances – while improving in the second-half. It was far from perfect, though, from the Blues’ point of view. However, that seemed very beside the point at full-time when the Chelsea players started their celebrations with the away section at Craven Cottage. Chelsea had just climbed back into the Champions League places with a 93rd-minute winner against their west London neighbours. The Blues have since been demoted from the top five, with Nottingham Forest getting their job done away at Tottenham on Monday evening, but the task for Chelsea remains very clear. It remains to be seen how many points they need from their last five Premier League matches, but they are all ones they will be looking to achieve victories in. It is far from an easy run of fixtures for Chelsea, however, with their five remaining opponents all difficult to beat in their own right. Everton have become a much better team under David Moyes and we all know how the Toffees will approach their match at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon. Then it’s the visit of another Merseyside club in Liverpool. The positive for Chelsea is that the Reds may well be crowned as Premier League champions by the time they arrive in SW6. The negative for the Blues is that they are Premier League champions – if that makes any sense… A trip to Newcastle United then follows for Chelsea. Always a tough challenge going to St. James’ Park and it will be just that again, with the Magpies one of the most in-form sides in the division at the moment, though their winning run came to an end at Aston Villa over the weekend. Manchester United come to Stamford Bridge after that for Chelsea’s final home match of the Premier League season. While United have been terrible this season, Ruben Amorim has proven he can set up his side to frustrate the ‘top six’ in the league this season; achieving good results against Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. The season concludes with a visit to the City Ground to take on Nottingham Forest. If both sides pick up the necessary points between now and then, then it could be an enormous final fixture of the season in the intense race for Champions League football. Interestingly, and perhaps slightly worryingly from a Chelsea perspective, the Blues did not get on so well when they faced these five teams in the reverse fixtures this season. Their only win against the bunch was the 2-1 against Newcastle in October, with Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson, who have two goals between them in 2025, both scoring at Stamford Bridge on the day. There are three draws in there; coming against Everton (away, 0-0), Man United (away, 1-1) and Forest (home, 1-1) while a trip to Anfield was the only defeat from the five games. It just goes to show the difficulty of the five matches that await Chelsea. Either way, head coach Enzo Maresca believes this season has shown signs of promise and progress for his young Chelsea team. The Blues have not been in the Champions League since the 2022/23 season but have been in and around the top four/five spaces in the Premier League table for the majority of the Italian’s debut campaign at Stamford Bridge. “In my mind, I think the team is ready [to take a step forward next season],” Maresca said last week. “And the reason why I say that is because I think we proved this season. I think, even if sometimes from the outside it is difficult to see that, but in the last two years, Chelsea has been top four zero times. “This season we have been top four most of our season. I don’t know the reason why, I was not here last season, two years ago. I am not judging what happened last year or two years ago. I am judging this season. “And this is the reason why I think fans, they have to trust us, they have to trust the team, they have to trust the club, what we are doing now. And the reason why is because, if in the last two seasons, Chelsea was zero times top four, and this season we spent almost our whole season top four, I think it is a big proof that the team is improving and is doing the right things. “Now, is it enough? For me, no. Because I would like to fight with this club for titles, for the Premier League, for the Champions League. But at the same time, I think we have to be realistic and see that this team, this season, is improving. It’s there, it’s numbers. “In the last two years, zero times top four, this season, almost all season. I think it’s quite clear that we are in the right direction. Now, again, is it enough? For me, no. “Because I would like to fight with this club for important things. And we are going to fight for more important things. But at the same time, the fans and everyone also in this room, I think it is correct to trust us because we are doing the right things. “Now we are not in the top four, unfortunately top five, so we are not happy. We are going to try to finish there. But it’s a proof that we are doing the right things.”