Chelsea are suffering from a severe case of the away day blues.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men now have the joint-worst away record of any Premier League team in all competitions since the start of last season following their 4-1 hammering by Liverpool.
The Blues were soundly beaten at Anfield as goals from Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley, Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz piled on the misery for Mauricio Pochettino.
No Premier League side has lost more matches on the road in the same period, during which Chelsea have splurged over £1billion in the transfer market following the Todd Boehly-led takeover.
Chelsea’s defeat at Liverpool was their 22nd away from home since the start of last season
The Blues were ruthlessly disposed of by a rampant Liverpool in a 4-1 loss at Anfield
| Date | Opponent | Goals | Goals Conceded | Expected Goals | Expected Goals Against | Total Shots (inc. Blocks) | Shots Faced (inc. Blocks) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21/08/2022 | Leeds United | 0 | 3 | 0.88 | 2.22 | 14 | 12 |
| 30/08/2022 | Southampton | 1 | 2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 10 | 9 |
| 06/09/2022 | Dinamo Zagreb | 0 | 1 | 0.93 | 0.62 | 15 | 6 |
| 29/10/2022 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 1 | 4 | 1.43 | 2.27 | 15 | 19 |
| 09/11/2022 | Manchester City | 0 | 2 | 1.76 | 1.74 | 15 | 18 |
| 12/11/2022 | Newcastle United | 0 | 1 | 0.3 | 1.03 | 5 | 10 |
| 08/01/2023 | Manchester City | 0 | 4 | 0.09 | 2.79 | 3 | 9 |
| 12/01/2023 | Fulham | 1 | 2 | 2.04 | 0.97 | 20 | 8 |
| 15/02/2023 | Borussia Dortmund | 0 | 1 | 2.2 | 1.49 | 21 | 14 |
| 26/02/2023 | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 2 | 0.42 | 0.8 | 10 | 8 |
| 08/04/2023 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 1 | 1.13 | 0.55 | 13 | 9 |
| 12/04/2023 | Real Madrid | 0 | 2 | 0.66 | 2.28 | 7 | 18 |
| 02/05/2023 | Arsenal | 1 | 3 | 0.76 | 1.75 | 7 | 16 |
| 21/05/2023 | Manchester City | 0 | 1 | 1.25 | 1.19 | 13 | 15 |
| 25/05/2023 | Manchester United | 1 | 4 | 1.85 | 5.22 | 14 | 18 |
| 20/08/2023 | West Ham United | 1 | 3 | 2.49 | 1.8 | 17 | 12 |
| 25/11/2023 | Newcastle United | 1 | 4 | 0.53 | 2.36 | 7 | 14 |
| 06/12/2023 | Manchester United | 1 | 2 | 1.52 | 4.17 | 13 | 28 |
| 10/12/2023 | Everton | 0 | 2 | 0.95 | 1.22 | 16 | 9 |
| 24/12/2023 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1 | 2 | 2.06 | 1.27 | 16 | 14 |
| 09/01/2024 | Middlesbrough | 0 | 1 | 2.6 | 0.96 | 18 | 6 |
| 31/01/2024 | Liverpool | 1 | 4 | 0.58 | 2.9 | 4 | 28 |
And Stats provided by Opta lay bare the scale of the problem for the beleaguered Blues. In those 22 matches, they have scored just 10 goals and conceded a whopping 51 – an average of 2.31 per game.
Chelsea’s XG across their dreadful away run is 27.5, with an xG against of 40.7.
| Team | Games Lost |
|---|---|
| Nottingham Forest | 22 |
| Chelsea | 22 |
| West Ham United | 21 |
| Fulham | 20 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 19 |
| Bournemouth | 18 |
| Crystal Palace | 17 |
| Manchester United | 16 |
| Brentford | 15 |
| Liverpool | 15 |
| Everton | 14 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 14 |
| Aston Villa | 14 |
| Brighton and Hove Albion | 13 |
| Newcastle United | 12 |
| Arsenal | 11 |
| Manchester City | 9 |
They have been taking shots – 273 – but opponents have found it easy to create chances as they have had a total of 300.
Only Nottingham Forest, who are 16th in the Premier League and narrowly survived the drop to the Championship during the 2022-23 campaign, have suffered the same number of defeats since last season.
By contrast, champions Manchester City have lost 9 games in that period, while Liverpool have been beaten on 15 occasions.
West Ham (21), Fulham (20), Wolves, (19), Bournemouth (18) and Crystal Palace (17) are among the teams to have lost fewer games than Chelsea. Crisis-ridden Manchester United have suffered 16 defeats across that timespan.
Chelsea’s away day blues began in August 2022 when they were beaten 3-0 by Leeds at Elland Road.
Along the way have been 4-1 defeats by Brighton, Newcastle and Man United, as well as a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Man City.
And they continued at the hands of Liverpool on Wednesday as Jurgen Klopp’s side outclassed the Blues, who are already 20 points adrift of the Reds in top spot following their ninth loss of the season.
Chelsea’s shocking run away rom Stamford Bridge began with a 3-0 defeat by Leeds in August 2022
Speaking after the game, Pochettino offered a grim assessment of his side’s performance, which came less than a month before the two teams meet in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
‘The performance wasn’t good from us.’ Pochettino said.
‘If we want to match them we have to compete in a different way. They were more aggressive than us. They were better than us in all areas.
‘Of course it is going to be different at Wembley. The feeling the players have now is good because they know if they repeat this performance it will be the same result.
‘We need to improve and we need to push ourselves a little bit more. We have to learn. If we want to compete with Liverpool, one of the best teams in England for many years, we have to raise our level.’
