Wolves vs Chelsea ended in a draw as the injury-hit Blues lost more ground in the Premier League title race.
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Christian Pulisic went closest for Chelsea in the fog at Molineux, while Wolves were denied a first half Daniel Podence goal via a correct offside decision.
The draw means that Chelsea have dropped points in five of their last eight games and have now drawn back-to-back games in the Premier League as they have 38 points. Wolves have conceded just 14 goals in their first 18 games of the season, and have 25 points.
Wolves vs Chelsea final score, stats
Wolves 0-0 Chelsea
Shots: Wolves 4, Chelsea 8
Shots on target: Wolves 1, Chelsea 1
Possession: Wolves 36, Chelsea 64
Three things we learned from Wolves vs Chelsea
1. Attacking absentees hit Chelsea hard: Without Lukaku, Werner and Havertz, Chelsea once again looked lost in attack. Pulisic is not a central striker and worked hard but didn’t take the big chance which fell his way. The Blues looked sluggish in attack and were unable to dominate the Wolves back three. The sooner Lukaku and Werner are back the better.
2. Solid Wolves fail to create: The have conceded just 14 goals in 18 games this season, which is remarkable. That is the positive. Scoring goals is a huge issue, though, as they are the second lowest scorers in the PL with just 13 in 18 games. Now that they are sitting pretty in midtable almost at the midway point of the season, Wolves have to take more risks in the second half of the season if they want to finish in the European spots. They can definitely challenge for Europe if they can find a way to create and score just a few more chances.
3. Blues slipping out of title race: In a matter of weeks Chelsea have gone from title favorites to being third in a three-horse race. Injury and illness issues have hit them hard, but so too have sloppy defensive errors coupled with sluggish attacking displays. Chelsea are controlling the tempo of games and having a lot of the ball but they aren’t doing enough with it. In the blink of an eye they have now fallen six points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City. That is a lot of ground to make up and all eyes will be on their clash at City on January 15, and their home game against Liverpool on Jan. 2. If they’re able to get four points from those two games they are back in the title race. Anything less and their title bid could be over.
Man of the Match: Jose Sa - Superb save to deny Pulisic and solid throughout.
Blues out of sorts
Chelsea started brightly with Pulisic, Alonso and Mount linking up well. Wolves had a few set piece situations and then caught Chelsea on the counter attack.
Daniel Podence looked to have put Wolves 1-0 up after a lovely counter-attack, but the offside flag belatedly went up as Raul Jimenez was offside and interfered with play just before the ball reached Podence.
Kante lucky
The warning signs were there for Chelsea, and N’ Golo Kante was lucky to not have a handball and a possible red card given against him as he was the last man and the ball skipped off his chest and arm to deny Wolves a clear attack on goal.
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Chelsea huffed and puffed but couldn’t get going in attack, while at the other end Leander Dendoncker nodded a free header straight at Edouard Mendy when he should have scored.
Pulisic denied
In the second half Chelsea were much better and dominated possession, as Christian Pulisic’s cross to the back post was cleared just as Reece James looked to finish.
The USMNT forward was then denied as Alonso played him in, and he went clean through on goal but Jose Sa produced a fine save to deny Pulisic.
Late on Chelsea threw everything at Wolves as Coady heroically blocked a shot from Kante, but the Blues couldn’t break through as Tuchel’s boys lost more ground in the title race.
