Graham Potter cannot wait for Chelsea’s luck to change in front of goal to turn around their poor run of form.
They have only won one game in nine games across all competitions since the turn of the year, and their 1-0 loss at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday was the latest in a disappointing run of results.
Chelsea now has a deficit to make up at Stamford Bridge on March 7 in order to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, though the Blues were perhaps unlucky not to be returning to London with a victory after an encouraging attacking performance.
Potter’s team had 21 shots, eight of which were on goal, resulting in an xG (expected goals) of 2.2; Joao Felix also rattled the crossbar. Since the first leg of the 2011 quarterfinal match against Manchester United, this was the most attempts Chelsea had made in a Champions League knockout game without scoring.
Potter acknowledged that his team’s attacking threat against Dortmund had increased, but he also believes that his team is still capable of more given that they have now failed to score in five of their previous nine games.
“I don’t like to use luck as something to wait for as you can’t control it,” Potter told reporters. “Clearly you need it.
“The Dortmund game was a positive in terms of chances created. The criticism for us and the fair criticism is that we haven’t attacked as well as I would have liked us to. It was closer.
“We feel there’s progress, but you play a game and you need to win it. There is a lot going on, integrating new players and all of the time playing good opponents. That’s where we’re at.”
Despite recent bluntness from Chelsea, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hasn’t started a game since early November, with Kai Havertz largely preferred to the former captain of Arsenal in the middle.
Yet Potter said of the striker: “Pierre remains an important part of his squad. His attitude has been really good.
“There’s David [Datro] Fofana too who is a young player with potential. There are other forwards as well.”
Chelsea will host Southampton on Saturday in an effort to defeat a team that is currently last in the Premier League and without a manager after Nathan Jones was fired last weekend. Chelsea will be going for just their second victory of 2023.
Asked whether the game is a must-win fixture to keep hopes of European qualification alive, Potter replied: “It’s a game we want to win. There’s no point in focusing on four months away.
“We’re focused on Southampton. We have to be ready for that challenge, to play at home and try to get three points.
“I thought the Dortmund performance away from home was another step forward, but we have a different challenge at the weekend. [We are] satisfied but [there is] always room to improve.
“Anything can come at you because they [Southampton] have a caretaker manager [Ruben Selles] and a week to prepare. We have no reference, that’s the challenge. I think there’s a big challenge coming our way.”
