Five Chelsea fixtures that will make or break Liam Rosenior as PSG make Champions League plea

Liam Rosenior will have his work cut out ahead of the March international break, with some tricky Chelsea fixtures coming up

Chelsea have some difficult games coming up that could make or break the season. The Blues enjoyed a promising start to the year under Liam Rosenior, but they’ve gone off the boil a little of late.

The west Londoners won six of their first seven games across all competitions under their new boss, with the only defeat coming against Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. Then, at the start of February, Chelsea took another stumble, losing again to the Gunners in the return fixture.

Rosenior steadied the ship and led the Blues to victory against Wolves, which looks an even better result by the week. Chelsea took their foot off the pedal, sandwiching a win over Hull City in the FA Cup with a pair of disappointing performances to newly-promoted outfits.

The west Londoners only managed to bank two points from clashes against Leeds United and Burnley at Stamford Bridge. A couple of individual mistakes proved costly, and now, as the fixtures pile up, Chelsea are in grave danger of crashing out on all fronts.

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So, with that being said, football.london has looked at five fixtures that could make or break the season.

Aston Villa (A) – Premier League

Chelsea have a brilliant opportunity to pile on the misery at Villa Park on Wednesday night. Unai Emery’s side dropped three huge points in the race for qualification to the Champions League on Friday evening, losing 2-0 to Wolves.

The Blues could make a great statement of intent and slash Aston Villa’s advantage in third place. Although fifth place in the Premier League, which – subject to the UEFA coefficient table at the end of the season – could be enough to get into Europe’s top-flight, Chelsea are hanging on by a thread.

If the west Londoners lose, not only could the Villans extend the deficit, but they could fall well behind Liverpool and Manchester United.

Wrexham (A) – FA Cup

Ordinarily, a game against a Championship club would offer Chelsea the chance to rotate and rest some big names – even on the road. However, Wrexham will be well up for the tie, so Rosenior mustn’t take his foot off the pedal.

Paris Saint-Germain (A) – Champions League

Including the clash against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium at the end of February, this will be the Blues’ fourth successive away match. Fortunately, Rosenior has a decent record against Paris Saint-Germain, winning, drawing, and losing across three games.

The Chelsea squad will also fancy their chances against the French giants, having humiliated them in the Club World Cup final in the summer. The west Londoners will have the bit between their teeth, but fatigue could be an issue.

Newcastle United (H) – Premier League

Chelsea will relish the chance to return to Stamford Bridge after so many games on the road. Again, the Blues won’t get much time to recharge their batteries, but fortunately, Paris isn’t too far away.

Paris Saint-Germain (H) – Champions League

Chelsea have relished the big occasion under the lights at Stamford Bridge this season, so Rosenior will need the home crowd on their feet. If the Blues can overcome PSG in the round of 16, they’ll face either Galatasaray or Liverpool in the quarter-final.

Interestingly, PSG have asked the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) to postpone their match against Nantes on Saturday, March 14, so they can have an extra couple of days to prepare for the second leg against Chelsea.

The LFP have confirmed that they had been approached by the Parisians, who want the domestic clash pushed back until the week commencing April 20. The LFP have confirmed that Nantes had agreed to the postponement.

The French football governing body are expected to make a final decision in the coming days.

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