The Athletic FC.

Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Ayo Akimwalere.

After losing at the Emirates, Chelsea have dropped to 6th.

They've also registered a £342 million loss in their accounts.

So can Chelsea afford to miss out on Champions League qualification this season?

In with us today, we have Liam Toomey, our Chelsea correspondence. We've also got Matt Slater

as well. All right, Liam, let's talk about the Chelsea match. You were at the Emirates. What

did you think of Chelsea's performance? In many ways quite encouraging, which is kind of baked into the whole Chelsea experience right now, they were a lot better, I think, than in the Carabal Cup, semi-final second leg at the Emirates a few weeks ago, had about 60% possession, I think, had Arsenal very worried at times. I'd say actually throughout the game,

either side of the red card.

But familiar failings came to the fore once again.

They're the worst defensive set piece team in the league

and conceded two set piece goals

to the best attacking set piece team in the league.

I mean, that's one of those situations where the form absolutely comes through. And then another

just crazy avoidable red card. Their seventh of the season in the Premier League, they're ninth

in all competitions, nine different players, incredibly, and another

set of points dropped, albeit in a game that you'd say, you know, may have always been chalked

up as Chelsea's hardest remaining game that puts them in even more of a hole for Champions

League qualification. Yeah, Matt. Arsenal keep their five-point lead

at the top of the Premier League

ahead of Manchester City right now.

Set-piece FC strike again.

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