Chelsea are just 90 minutes away from securing their place in next season’s Champions League, with it all coming down to the final game of the season.
The Blues will be taking on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, with their opponents still having a chance at finishing in the top five after their win over Graham Potter’s West Ham.
Enzo Maresca will be looking for one final solution to his ongoing striker woes in Nicolas Jackson’s absence. The boss may be hoping that Marc Guiu is available again to solve his problems.
The Blues will be hoping they can recreate some of their heroics from the late-season away game against Forest from last season, where goals from Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling and Jackson were enough to win 3-2.
This time though, they are facing a side who are not threatened by relegation from the Premier League, but instead one who have secured European qualification of their own.
Gary Neville makes final Chelsea Champions League prediction
Only one of the two can possibly reach the Champions League though, although Gary Neville has predicted that the Blues will not be able to win next weekend, and miss out on a place in the top five.
He said on ‘The Gary Neville Podcast’: “Really important win for Forest, they’re up against it a little bit. They’ve got a big game next weekend. City have got two games, difficult games, and City will be flat after they’ve lost in a cup final.
“There’s a lot to play for in this next week. A lot of money at stake. At the moment, if you said that I had to select, I’d say that City would just get in there, I think Newcastle will get in there, and I think Villa might just sneak in. I think Nottingham Forest might just hamper Chelsea next Sunday, and I think Villa can win at Old Trafford.”
Chelsea left to rue mistakes in Champions League push
As far as Premier League sides are concerned, no club’s goalkeepers have made more errors leading to goals than Chelsea.
One of those which the Blues will be ruing the most was at Villa Park earlier this season, when a Marco Asensio shot snuck through Filip Jorgensen to see a three point swing go the way of their closest rivals for fifth place.
The Dane is not likely to start the final league game of the season after the improvement of Robert Sanchez between the sticks. It has not been a stellar campaign so far from the shot stopper.
Sunday’s result could have major implications on the transfer business the Blues are able to do at the end of the season, and they will be hoping they can prove Neville’s prediction wrong next weekend.
