When Blues fans looked at the fixture list earlier in the season and saw that Chelsea's last league matches were against Watford and Leicester, they laughed. Two easy games to allow the team to comfortably finish on a high!
Well nobody's laughing now. After grinding out an insipid draw at Old Trafford, Chelsea face Watford at the Bridge, hard on the heels of another midweek European clash, knowing that the Hornets are on a roll.
The only hope is that Watford may be distracted by their rare participation in an FA Cup final in two weeks' time.
And then it's a tricky last-day away journey to Leicester, another team playing well above expectations under Brendan Rodgers, a man who – from his days as youth coach at Stamford Bridge – probably knows as much about Chelsea as Morrie Sarri.
The Blues would dearly love to guarantee Champions League football next season, but to do that they'll have to win one (and possibly both) of their remaining league matches.
If they are overtaken by United or Arsenal, it will be hard to stomach.
Losing Tony Rudiger to injury against Man U means there's a smaller pool of top-class defenders to draw on as we enter the last lap, but Sarri can still go out on a high (assuming his services are dispensed with) if he achieves that elusive top-four finish.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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