Senior Chelsea players have pointed to "the worst pre-season they've had" as a possible reason for their poor form, according to head coach Graham Potter.
The Blues make the short trip to Tottenham on the back of a four-game winless streak in the Premier League, including a home loss to rock-bottom Southampton last week.
For Potter, who succeeded Thomas Tuchel in September, the pressure has continued to build as his side have slipped further down the table.
Ahead of another difficult encounter for his misfiring team, he acknowledged there were no easy answers and discussed conversations he held with some of his players about their preparation for the season before he arrived from Brighton and Hove Albion.
The club visited the United States for three games in July, before playing Serie A side Udinese twice in Italy ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
"It is really tough," he said. "A few weeks ago, [I said] it is the toughest job of football, and there are reasons for that.
"Speaking to a few of the experienced guys, they said it was the worst pre-season they've had. Organisationally, the tour didn't work as well as they'd like. I wasn't there so I can't say.
"We thought we had made progress, but against Southampton, [it] was below par. The sky can fall. These are inconvenient facts, but that's the situation."
Potter insisted he still has the full backing of owner Todd Boehly and the Chelsea board, and added that he expects and deserves to be under the microscope.
"With results as they are, you accept criticism," he said. "That should come, that is fair. [But] the mood here has always been positive and respectful.
"That is not to say it is easy at all. My family suffers, my mental health suffers. Personally, it is hard. I've been under pressure here for four months."
Captain Cesar Azpilicueta was taken to hospital during the defeat to Southampton after he suffered a concussion, and will not be available for the Spurs clash.
Potter was pleased with his improvement though, adding: "He is as OK as you can be when you've had that. He won't be ready for the weekend, but he's doing well."
Premier League MD10: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
We are now 10 games into the Premier League season and the table is beginning to take shape, but that does not mean there is no room for an upset or two.
On Saturday, both Manchester City and Arsenal fell to surprise defeats at Bournemouth and Newcastle United respectively.
It was only the third time since the start of 2017-18 that both of the previous season's top two teams had lost on the same day in the Premier League, after March 7, 2021 and January 14, 2023.
Pep Guardiola's champions could have few complaints about the result at the Vitality Stadium, where Andoni Iraola's Cherries won the expected goals (xG) battle by 2.04 to 1.56.
But which other games featured a lucky winner or an unlucky loser? We delve into the Opta data to find out.
Unlucky losers: Arsenal
The weekend's action began with Arsenal travelling to St James' Park to face Newcastle, with Mikel Arteta's side chasing a victory to move within a point of leaders Liverpool.
However, they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat as Alexander Isak's early goal proved enough for Newcastle to make it three wins in their last four home league games against Arsenal (one loss).
The Gunners could count themselves unlucky to come away from Tyneside with nothing, however, after limiting Newcastle to a measly 0.53 xG – 0.25 of which came from the chance for Isak's goal.
Only West Ham, who played half of their defeat to Nottingham Forest with 10 men, created a lower figure across the nine games to take place this weekend, with 0.13 xG.
Arsenal were far from their free-flowing best, though, only recording 10 attempts worth 1.05 xG themselves. They have averaged just 7.4 shots per game in their away Premier League matches this season, with only Brentford (7.5) taking fewer.
Lucky winners: Southampton
Just two teams – Wolves and Ipswich Town – remain without a victory in the Premier League after Southampton finally got off the mark by beating Everton 1-0 at St Mary's.
Russell Martin's team accumulated just 0.74 xG to Everton's 1.56, but Adam Armstrong's strike five minutes from time handed them a huge three points in their fight for safety.
While Beto, who headed against the crossbar just 25 seconds before Armstrong's winner, and Jack Harrison spurned great chances for the Toffees, Southampton were also grateful for a late VAR intervention, as the former saw a potential leveller chalked off for a marginal offside call.
It was the first time Everton had failed to score against Southampton in the Premier League since February 2022, bringing their five-match unbeaten run in the competition to a halt.
Unlucky losers: Crystal Palace
Southampton ended the weekend in 19th, above winless Wolves after they were pegged back in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at Molineux.
Marc Guehi salvaged a draw for the Eagles, who were without star men Adam Wharton and Eberechi Eze yet arguably still did enough to leave the West Midlands with all three points.
They racked up 19 shots totalling 2.51 xG to their hosts' 11, which had a total value of 1.51 xG. Palace's xG figure was the highest in the Premier League this weekend, but they were missing their shooting boots as Ismaila Sarr squandered two glorious chances when they were a goal to the good in the second half.
With both defences struggling, this was only the second Premier League game of the season to be goalless at half-time but see both sides score at least twice in the second half, after Everton 2-3 Bournemouth in August.
There could have been a fifth goal in stoppage time, too, as Jean-Phillipe Mateta saw a potential winner disallowed for a foul on Jose Sa in the build-up. Wolves – and their under-fire head coach Gary O'Neil – arguably got away with one.
Lucky winners: Chelsea
Sunday's late game saw Chelsea fight back to draw 1-1 with Manchester United at Old Trafford, denying Ruud van Nistelrooy a first Premier League win as the Red Devils' interim head coach.
Moises Caicedo's well-taken volley cancelled out Bruno Fernandes' penalty and Chelsea arguably looked the more likely victors in the second half, but they only generated 1.1 xG from their 12 attempts – and just 0.29 from six after the interval.
United, meanwhile, had chances worth 1.98 xG, though Fernandes' spot-kick – with an xG value of 0.79 – was a major contributing factor.
Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho squandered decent opportunities for United, though, and incoming boss Ruben Amorim has plenty of work to do with their attackers.
United have scored just nine goals in 10 Premier League games this season – their worst record through 10 matches of any league campaign since 1973-74 (also nine).
Fans of a certain vintage will need no reminder of what happened at the end of that season – United were relegated from the First Division, their fate sealed by club legend Denis Law scoring against them with a nonchalant backheel, while representing rivals Man City.
Van Nistelrooy yet to speak to incoming Amorim about Man Utd future
Ruud van Nistelrooy revealed he has not spoken to incoming Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim after leading the Red Devils to a point against Chelsea on Sunday.
Van Nistelrooy, taking interim charge of his first Premier League game, saw Bruno Fernandes open the scoring from the spot in the 70th minute after Robert Sanchez's clumsy challenge on Rasmus Hojlund.
But Moises Caicedo's strike four minutes later sealed a share of the spoils at Old Trafford, though the performance left plenty for Amorim to ponder upon his arrival in Manchester.
Van Nistelrooy will oversee United's next two games against PAOK in the Europa League and Leicester City before Amorim takes the reins on November 11.
The Dutchman joined previous manager Erik ten Hag's coaching staff in July, but it remains to be seen whether he will remain at Old Trafford once Amorim arrives.
"Over the coming days we will be in communication, and I am waiting for that," Van Nistelrooy said.
"What is more important is that we are in training tomorrow and prepare for the game on Thursday. I haven’t spoken to him [Amorim] yet, but it will happen.
“You saw today that we competed well against a very good side. This is the way forward for this group of players."
The result, however, moved United on to 12 points, but marked their worst return after 10 games of a league campaign since 1986-87 (eight).
Meanwhile, the Red Devils' total of nine goals is their fewest at this stage of a league campaign since 1973-74 (also nine), though Van Nistelrooy was happy with the display.
“I am disappointed we didn’t win, we had the better of the chances in the game. But overall the performance was fantastic. They left their all out there on the pitch," he added.
“It was a great moment, the goal, when Old Trafford explodes. Bruno Fernandes did well taking it and the emotion came out.
"This week has been special, I have enjoyed every second of it. I am here to help and will get behind the new manager and make sure the club grows.
“We are behind the new manager, everyone at the new club is focusing on the two games that are very important, but then we will work hard to make this club better every day."
Fernandes echoed the thoughts of his manager, but said the result was one that frustrated his team-mates at full-time.
“We did fight, we could have won the game. Chelsea also played a good game, it was good from both teams but not the result we wanted," Fernandes said.
"I always look at the goalkeeper before facing them. He [Robert Sanchez] saved a penalty from me last season, but I was successful.
"Every week here is challenging, if we win or lose."
Fernandes has now scored 32 of his 36 penalties for United (89%), with his three penalty goals against Chelsea being his joint-most against any opponent (also three v Aston Villa).
'It's quite clear' - Maresca unhappy with 'dangerous' Martinez challenge on Palmer
Enzo Maresca believes it was "quite clear for all of us" that Lisandro Martinez should have been sent off for his "dangerous" challenge on Cole Palmer during Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
The spoils were shared at Old Trafford, where a superb Moises Caicedo volley cancelled out Bruno Fernandes' earlier penalty.
However, Maresca felt United should have been reduced to 10 men following Martinez's late tackle on Palmer, with referee Robert Jones showing the defender a yellow card following a VAR review.
"I think it is quite clear for all of us, but the referee took a different decision," he said. "When you don’t go for the ball and just the man, it is a red. There is no intention to take the ball and it is dangerous."
Nevertheless, the Italian was pleased with the way his players dealt with facing United, who were overseen by interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy in their first league game since Erik ten Hag's dismissal.
"We are happy because we knew how difficult it would be," Maresca added. "The [United] players want to prove they're good enough. A new manager with different ideas, so we had to prepare a different way.
"Overall, United were similar [to under Ten Hag], we expected them to be a bit more aggressive. For a large part of the game, we were in control, there was a desire to win the game, and we lost our balance in the last 10 minutes or so.
"When you go down in this stadium, it's very difficult to come back, but we did that. Then, we tried to win it."
"We knew if we waited for a long time [to equalise], it was going to be complicated," Caicedo told BBC Sport. "I'm so happy to equalise.
"We deserved to win. We knew it would be a tough game, but we were prepared for it. I'm so happy for the team. It was a great fight."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
