Chelsea's promising four-game unbeaten run was ended in the Premier League on Saturday by a 2-0 Brentford win over Mauricio Pochettino's men at Stamford Bridge. Bryan Mbeumo's late goal and assist for Ethan Pinnock's second-half opener did the damage in terms of securing the points but the Blues' lack of cutting edge was arguably just as costly.
Despite a goalless first half and Chelsea enjoying more overall possession than their visitors, it was Thomas Frank's side with the greater mastery in terms of putting the ball in the back of the net. A damning statistic at full time was the Blues' 17 shots for 1.57 xG which points at a Chelsea team with plenty going for it in attacking terms yet a lack of true cutting edge when it matters most.
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Despite a decent point at home to Arsenal which probably felt like a defeat given that Pochettino saw his players throw away a two-goal lead, the next five Premier League games will be tough. Tottenham Hotspur away, Manchester City at home, Newcastle United away, Brighton and Hove Albion at home and Manchester United away is almost as tough as it gets in the English topflight.
Sandwiched in the middle of that after the Spurs and City games is the November international break and that pause could actually prove to be a turning points for Chelsea's season. During the final international period of 2023, summer signing Christopher Nkunku is expected to near a return to senior action with Pochettino optimistic that he could be ready by late November.
"He is doing really, really well and is working really hard," said the Argentinian tactician of the French star pre-Brentford. "He is close and hopefully as soon as possible we can have him involved again. He is a really important player for us. "Maybe after the (November) international break he will be involved, maybe. It is not sure."
Nkunku joined Chelsea from RB Leipzig this past summer having agreed to the move in the winter of 2022 having missed the FIFA World Cup with France because of late injury pre-tournament. However, the former Paris Saint-Germain man is yet to feature competitively for the Blues after suffering a knee injury late in preseason which required surgery and a lengthy layoff.
"He is a player that can provide goals and we have been missing goals," added Pochettino stating the obvious of his side's struggles. "That is why we think he can be important for us -- he has proved he can score goals in the Bundesliga. Of course, if you compare with different offensive players, maybe with eight or 10 goals from Nkunku our situation is completely different.
"Those are the goals we are missing to be in a different position," said the former Spurs boss of Nkunku's increasingly prolific record while in Germany. "We cannot complain and we need to work so things can happen. So we are looking forward to recovering him and for him to help the team score more goals, earn more goals, and be a in a different position in the table."
Chelsea are now 11th and back in the lower half of the Premier League with Brentford moving above them and into the upper echelons in 10th place. Spurs and City promise to be difficult games for Pochettino's Blues but there is genuine hope of the horizon for the Newcastle, Brighton and United fixtures if Nkunku is operational by then.
The key for these next few weeks leading into the final internationals period will be to advance in the EFL Cup against Blackburn Rovers to keep a potential avenue for silverware and European qualification open. After that, Chelsea need to fare similarly against Tottenham and Pep Guardiola's European champions to their recent Arsenal draw in order to keep the top half of the table in sight.
