It would be no great shock if west London’s third-best team tumble out of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon. Chelsea, whose stuttering Premier League form has left them in the unfamiliar position of peering up at Brentford and Fulham, are not in a good place before facing Manchester City for the second time in four days.
An extensive injury list is pushing an unbalanced squad to the limit, hopes of Champions League qualification are slipping away and, as Graham Potter pointed out after losing to City on Thursday night, some “extreme challenges” are on the way for a club forging a new identity after the tumult of the past 12 months
