Chelsea approach Enzo Maresca point of no return as Arsenal expose cold reality

Marc Cucurella started Chelsea's defeat away to Arsenal as the most likely player to score. That says a lot about just where the team is right now.

He was the joint-top scorer out of the starting XI named by Enzo Maresca. Only Enzo Fernandez can match his four strikes this season but Cucurella is in a better vein of form in front of goal. In the absence of Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, and Noni Madueke, an already flaky Chelsea attack was left to try and make something out of nothing at the Emirates Stadium.

By full-time, they hardly made it as far as creating nothing. The 0.35xG (expected goals) metric was the lowest recorded in a Premier League match for a Chelsea side since December 2022 away at Newcastle United. As it turned out, Cucurella had both of the shots on target, which stacks up.

In the second half, when chasing the game, Chelsea generated 0.14xG. Cucurella's back post header from a looping cross was the closest they came. The other two shots were from Pedro Neto trying his luck from range. They were closer to leaving the Emirates Stadium and entering orbit than testing David Raya.

The lack of penetration is one thing but the failure to spark energy or impetus into the performance is another. Chelsea were only a goal down when Maresca started to make substitutes in a bid to win the game but acted like taking a point was beyond them. In many ways, it was.

Two defenders came on, so did Romeo Lavia for his first appearance in two months. Tyrique George was given a run-around but it never felt like anything was going to come. It was more of a resignation of perceived and ingrained inferiority than an an attempt to shift the tide because no tangible difference was made.

Arsenal sat back and allowed Chelsea to play slow, possession-based football in front of them. The few times a ball was tried in-behind the backline it was either overhit or misplaced.

This was a continuation of the first-half proceedings. After weathering Arsenal's quick start - which could easily have seen them go two or three goals up quickly - Chelsea did manage to hold the ball for larger spells after the half-hour mark. The passive approach still rarely troubled Mikel Arteta and the best defence in the division.

Chelsea didn't do enough to disrupt the strong block situated in front of Raya. Jadon Sancho and Christopher Nkunku once more struggled to impact the game from their wide positions. Fernandez occupied Palmer's advanced midfield role but was left to pass sideways and backwards, as he has been instructed to, for most of the afternoon.

Neto ran around again but didn't have much luck against Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, perhaps the fiercest centre-back duo around. This is a familiar story for Chelsea.

Even with Palmer they have been left toothless and blunt of late. Before Madueke and Jackson were ruled out through injury results and displays had grown turgid and lifeless.

At the Emirates Stadium, Maresca was left with the worst of an already drained bunch. Sancho has had one shot on target in 2025 and that came in midweek against FC Copenhagen. The last time he made a goalkeeper make a save in a Premier League match was on Boxing Day, 10 games ago.

Nkunku has done more to impact matters but only just. He has scored one league goal all season against teams not called Southampton, and that was in September away at Bournemouth. He hasn't assisted a league goal against any other side.

Neto has been more dangerous but is still not a striker. To this extent, other than playing teenage winger George more often in the past few weeks, Maresca has had his hands tied.

Nevertheless, the failure to inject any intent or pace into the side has been a coaching issue. Chelsea are far too pedestrian and one-paced in matches no matter the game state. Maresca has been public about this being his desire, to see Chelsea control matches rather than take risks. That much is apparent because it has now gone so far the other way that Chelsea seem incapable of making moments for themselves.

In both first-halves against Copenhagen they failed to register a shot on target. On Thursday they didn't manage one at all before the 47th minute. The open-play performance four days earlier for the visit of Leicester City wasn't much better.

An issue for Chelsea outside of these glaring problems is that it has come during arguably the easiest run remaining. The margin for error was so great against Southampton, Leicester, and in both legs of the Conference League last-16, that even when not at their best, Chelsea were still too good.

On Sunday in north London that reality came crashing down. Arsenal are without their best attacker and also play an unorthodox No.9. They hardly had to get out of first gear to keep Chelsea at arm's length.

The difference in the scoreline was from a corner but Robert Sanchez had been busy prior to Mikel Merino's winner and he was much more active afterwards as well. This time it was a depleted and mostly uninspiring Arsenal who were able to operate below par and get the win.

At this level in the league it says a lot for where Chelsea are. The worry is that the end of the season is tough.

Chelsea will have the opportunity to bounce back after the international break when Tottenham visit Stamford Bridge - a fixture which fans do not forgive managers for losing - but the final nine games are steeped in challenges. Chelsea still have to play Fulham (now only four points behind in the table), Newcastle, and Nottingham Forest away from home.

Manchester United travel to SW6 on the penultimate day of the campaign and have only been beaten once at Stamford Bridge since 2018. The truth is that Chelsea have been trending downwards for three months even if their grip on the top five has not been lost.

The good start to the season, coupled with the strength (or weakness) of so many sides this year has left the race completely open. To that extent there remains a positive that Chelsea are not likely to be cut adrift anytime soon, they are just not good enough to take advantage. In other words, they are in the conversation in spite of their quality rather than because of it.

Their goal of qualifying for the Champions League has been dented but the more damaging aspect is not just Sunday's result but what it says about Chelsea outside of the points at stake. The performances have been getting worse the longer Maresca has been in charge and that was also the case when Palmer, Jackson, and Madueke were all fit.

They lost to Fulham, Ipswich Town, and Manchester City with all three available. They couldn't break down Everton and spurned chances at Crystal Palace. There have been flashes throughout of a team that does have the requisite pieces to compete but certainly not consistently.

Now it is a sprint finish. The difference is that Chelsea are doing it without running shoes, starting blocks, and are instead hoping that walking the remainder will be enough. As if going full pelt would be too much of a risk to take should they trip. Right now, neither is going to be the pathway to success.

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