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Premier League: Defeat to Arsenal wake-up call for Chelsea, says Thomas Tuchel as top 4 race heats up

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel conceded that he shouldn’t have too many changes to the line-up which he believes led to their shock loss to Arsenal in a crunch Premier League match on Wednesday.

Chelsea missed out on an opportunity to all but seal a top-4 finish in the Premier League (Reuters Photo)

Chelsea missed out on an opportunity to all but seal a top-4 finish in the Premier League (Reuters Photo)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Chelsea are the 4th spot but face pressure from West Ham and Liverpool
  • Chelsea were beaten 0-1 by Arsenal in their Premier League match on Wednesday
  • It was maybe too many changes from the last match and I take full responsibility for that: Tuchel

Chelsea’s hopes of finishing in the top 4 of the Premier League took a hit after they suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Arsenal on Wednesday and manager Thomas Tuchel said it’s a wake-up call ahead of a what promises to be a thrilling end to the season.

Chelsea are six points clear of West Ham United who have three matches left and seven ahead of Liverpool with four on the Premier League table.

Tuchel’s side would have all but sealed a Premier League top-four finish with a win, but instead are now looking over their shoulders after a poor performance. Emile Smith Rowe’s first-half goal settled the London derby after a defensive mix-up by the hosts in which Jorginho’s wayward backpass was scrambled off the line by Kepa Arrizabalaga but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang teed up Smith Rowe to score.

“Totally our fault, nobody else’s. We lost, it’s totally our responsibility. We had huge chances. We made an own goal more or less — total gift,” Tuchel said.

“We weren’t on the pitch with the same energy, it wasn’t easy to come up with the intensity and passing. We weren’t sharp enough and didn’t have the same hunger and attitude as we’re used to playing with. So it’s on us.”

“It was maybe too many changes from the last match and I take full responsibility for that. Maybe it’s the last wake-up call for all of us.”

With an FA Cup final on Saturday against Leicester City, Tuchel made a number of changes to his starting lineup. It resulted in only a third defeat in 26 games in all competitions for Tuchel and left Chelsea in fourth spot in the Premier League with two games to play.

Not happy with my line-up: Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel conceded that there shouldn’t have been as many changes to the line-up for a crunch fixture against Arsenal.

“I felt it a little bit coming in training and I’m a bit unlucky that it’s proven today on the pitch. I regret… we could have, we could have, we could have but we didn’t,” Tuchel said.

“The choices were not so good from my side for the lineup. This is on me. We were unlucky. We can lose in football. We did everything today to lose.

“I’m not happy with my lineup. There were too many changes and I shouldn’t have done it like this. It was something in particular but I don’t want to tell you,” Tuchel added.

The win left Arsenal retaining the 9th spot on the league table with 55 points, 9 less than 4th-placed Chelsea.

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