Chelsea Lose Battle of the Sugar Daddies: Is the Race Back On?

"I really think we’re getting back that invincible feeling we had three years ago, I listen to the other players when we’re away with England and they’re all talking about how well we’re playing. They’re fearing us again."

When Terry said this before the Arsenal game, people (Wenger excluded) were hard-pressed to disagree. After the game at Eastlands however where Chelsea were dominated by a motivated City team, the naysayers might now have a leg to stand on.

The game against City wasn't one of those where Chelsea played excellently, failed to take their chances, and were then taken out by a sucker punch. Chelsea were outplayed by City and their famed midfield and central defensive pairing were both made to look decidedly ordinary. Terry was frequently pulled out of position and Ballack was a virtual no-show in the game. 

Then again, the defeat was bad but I'm sure it pales in comparison to the 3-1 humbling they suffered against Wigan Athletic. Point is, Chelsea bounced back from that defeat to beat Liverpool 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. And when they then lost 2-1 to Villa in the following fixture, they bounced back again to first beat Atletico Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League and then slaughter Blackburn 5-0 in the EPL.

This shows that Chelsea certainly have bounceback-ability, and loads of it at that. How many would want to bet that they don't follow this defeat up with another five game, clean-sheet, winning streak?

Their fixture list is even easier this time around. After the Villa defeat they faced Blackburn (h), Bolton (a), Man U (h), Wolves (h), and Arsenal (a). Their next five games will be against; Everton (h), Portsmouth (h), West Ham (a), Birmingham (a), and Fulham (h). Their toughest game and probably most important game in this upcoming period is arguably the home game against Everton next week.

If Chelsea drop points in this game, then Man U could overtake or level with them, and Arsenal could be breathing right down their necks. If Chelsea win however, (which they should with Everton not being the same force this season) then their campaign will be back on track and they will have four more games to rediscover their confidence.

Basically you can make two interpretations from this defeat. You wouldn't be wrong in saying that by losing, Chelsea have again proved their mortality and thus a collapse is not too far off. They did after all collapse at a similar time last season after a home defeat to Arsenal and Man U then capitalized to take the title.

A similar thing could happen this season as well with Man U again being well placed to pounce on any mistakes and Chelsea resigned to the loss of two key players (Drogba and Essien) and two important squad players (Kalou and Mikel) to the AFCON. Drogba especially has been a beast for them this season and it will be tough to replace the Ivorian.

You can also say however that Chelsea's loss to Man City was just them subscribing to the law of averages, you can't win them all and all runs must come to an end. The key thing is that they have proved that they have the ability to bounce back and with players like Terry and Lampard around, there is more than enough of the required character and leadership available for them to do so.

Their chances look even better when you consider the fact that they will be able to buy reinforcements during the window. The fact that they have a generous fixture list during this period, boosts their chances even further.

A Chelsea collapse is then not inevitable, but then again, a Chelsea title win definitely does not look as certain as it did before the defeat either. In my opinion Chelsea still look like the side most likely to win the league, but the defeat has certainly made it more difficult for them and the title-race looks like actually being a race again.

Man U are just two points behind them and with their game in hand, Arsenal are potentially just five points behind. With all this considered, I would say that the title race is most definitely back on.