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Although Chelsea didn't entirely destroy their hopes of finishing in the highest eight places of the European competition opening phase, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the recently revamped competition, securing a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Concern: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the sole predictable element about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed since their loss in Italy. Since seemingly confirming their credentials with an commanding victory of Barcelona, and then a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, Chelsea have been stuffed by Leeds, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now lost against a average team from Italy's top flight.

Although pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that appears to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup constantly, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for big matches is mostly fixed.

“I think in that game, starting team, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that featured against Spurs, they play against Barca, they play against Wolves, Arsenal,” he droned. “We had eight, nine players 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 Bournemouth game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. First up, they welcome this season’s surprise package Pafos, then travel back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we try to play the extra round and then go to the following stage,” remarked Maresca, whose following fixture is a game against an Everton team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s actually funny 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 practiced 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 tearing it up in the top flight.

Readers' Letters

“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve walking from a pub that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the ground that they were inevitably going to. Just arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.

“I note that one correspondent not only got Tuesday’s featured letter, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more dropped points after leading, I am wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of representation in your letters section is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.