Thomas Tuchel has officially been confirmed as Chelsea manager after the Premier League club fired Frank Lampard on Monday morning.
The former Blues midfielder left the club after a run of two wins and five defeats in their last eight league games, meaning they are now down in 10th with just 29 points to their name from 19 fixtures.
Only twice in the last eight seasons have Chelsea missed out on a top-four spot and bet365 make it 9/4 (3.25) that they are able to finish in the Champions League places this time around.
The Blues started the season strongly with six wins from the opening 11 games and were even top of the Premier League after their 3-1 win over Leeds United in December, although all of those victories came against teams currently in the bottom half.
In fact, Chelsea’s 3-0 success against West Ham on December 21 remains their only one against top-half sides this season, with their tally of just six points against top-10 sides lower than every Premier League team except the current bottom-four.
Lampard was rewarded with a summer spending spree after a strong debut campaign in 2019-20 but the big-money signings of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech are yet to really find their feet in England.
The trio, part of a £220 million ($301m) total expenditure, have made 45 appearances in the league this season but have only managed six goals, with Werner responsible for four of those – all of which came in a four-match run between October and November.
GettyChelsea fans will no doubt be hoping that Tuchel can turn things around after he was fired by Paris Saint-Germain just last month despite taking them to a first Champions League final in August.
The German left PSG with an almost 75 per cent win rate and two Ligue 1 titles in two full seasons there, which should give hope to the Stamford Bridge faithful.
Although the Blues are 10th, they remain just six points behind fourth-placed West Ham and only four teams have scored more goals than the West London outfit.
Chelsea are 125/1 (126.0) to win the title, which would require a herculean effort to overhaul the front-runners given the current 12-point deficit, whilst bet365 also offer 8/13 (1.62) on them finishing in the top-six.
Odds correct at the time of writing. Please gamble responsibly.
