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Although The London club didn’t completely torpedo their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the European competition group stage, they performed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of strolling directly into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, achieving a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Concern: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been widely discussed since their defeat in Italy. Since seemingly confirming their quality with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with a London rival, Chelsea have been defeated by Leeds, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now lost against a average team from Serie A.

Although pundits have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team constantly, the manager maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his starting lineup for big matches is mostly fixed.

“In my view tonight, starting team, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that play against Spurs, they played against Barca, they played against Wolves, the Gunners,” he stated. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the several alterations that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

The Path Forward

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the additional knockout round, they will have to win their final two group games. In the first, they welcome the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, then travel back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we will face the playoff and then go to the next round,” remarked Maresca, whose following fixture is a game against an Everton team whose current form has propelled them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me turning pro in golf. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he forced me to take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this column will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium that they were always going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I note that one correspondent not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could the city 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.