Next six games after West Ham defeat

Mauricio Pochettino is well aware of the need for immediate results at a club that chewed through three coaches in one season last term.

“My message to the players, the fans and everyone is that we are Chelsea and we need to win,” Pochettino declared during pre-season, before losing his grasp of time. “Today, yesterday, not tomorrow.”

However, the call to action wasn’t heard by his Blues players as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at West Ham on Sunday, being undone by goals from Nayef Aguerd, Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta while offering an equaliser from Carney Chukwuemeka.

Pochettino may not be keen on looking towards the future but here’s what lies ahead for Chelsea after their loss at West Ham.

Chelsea have not faced Luton Town in league competition since the winter of 1991. Chris Kamara came out on top in a midfield battle with Vinnie Jones as Luton ran out 2-0 winners.

Three decades on, both midfields – particularly Chelsea’s – are stuffed with players that boast far bigger price tags than Kamara and Jones but with considerably less personality.

AFC Wimbledon’s last competitive action against a representative from Chelsea FC was a Football League Trophy tie with the club’s Under-21s back in 2018.

Conor Gallagher, now a fully-fledged member of the first team, started in a 2-1 win for the youngsters. The 23-year-old was born just a week before the two senior sides last met in 2000 – Chelsea were again the victors.

Nottingham Forest eked out a pair of draws against Chelsea last term – it was the first time the club had avoided defeat against the Blues in a season since 1996/97.

It will be a tough ask for Steve Cooper’s side to replicate that impressive feat again in the current campaign, especially given the lack of reinforcements made at the City Ground. While Forest’s summer has been one of consolidation – especially in comparison to last season’s splurge – Chelsea have spent more on transfers than any other club in Europe this year.

Chelsea’s only victory during a dreadful 14-game conclusion to last season was at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium.

Frank Lampard was steering Chelsea’s sinking ship back in May while Gary O’Neil was in Bournemouth’s dugout. Both English coaches were replaced in the summer for Marcelo Bielsa disciples. Pochettino actually played against Andoni Iraola on three occasions when the pair shared La Liga at the turn of the century, collecting four points and avoiding defeat.

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Pochettino and Unai Emery have been neighbours, rivals and, as the Argentine revealed, “very good friends”.

The former La Liga coaches faced off four times from opposite dugouts in the fierce north London derby. Emery, as Arsenal manager, never lost a Premier League match against Pochettino’s Tottenham. The familiar pairing last met in September 2019.

The heaviest defeat of Marco Silva’s managerial career was inflicted by Pochettino’s Tottenham. On the final day of the 2016/17 season, with Hull City already relegated and Harry Kane feverishly chasing after the Premier League Golden Boot, Pochettino’s Spurs romped to a 7-1 win.

“We didn’t play,” Silva bluntly reflected that day. Fulham may have made a concerning start to the new campaign but last season’s tenth-placed side are unlikely to ship seven in the upcoming west London derby.

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