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While The London club didn't entirely destroy their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the Bigger Cup opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own hopes of strolling directly into the round of 16. Of course, the silver lining is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, securing a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Issue: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Bergamo. After seemingly confirming their credentials with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, and then a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, Chelsea have been defeated by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now lost against a average team from Serie A.

While pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a team selection approach that seems to see the coach change his lineup like a kebab shop’s elephant leg of doner meat, the Chelsea head coach maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, the nucleus of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“In my view tonight, first XI, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that featured against Tottenham, they played against Barca, they play against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the five changes that we did compared to previous game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their final two group games. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, if not, we will face the playoff and then go to the following stage,” sniffed Maresca, whose next appointment is a match against an Merseyside team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the surprising position of seventh in the domestic league.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he pushed me to start on golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker 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 public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the ground that they were always going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I note that a reader not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the frequency of appearances in your mailbag is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.