Man City wins and puts pressure on Graham Potter over at Chelsea
A new defeat for Chelsea puts Graham Potter on hot water and now he must face difficult Newcastle.
Man City advanced to the Carabao Cup quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s team advanced in the competition they won four years in a row from 2018 to 2021 thanks to second-half goals from Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez and a strong showing from backup goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
Graham Potter can’t hide under a small team at Chelsea
At this point, Graham Potter’s five wins in his first six games as Chelsea’s manager seem like ancient history. Of course, Potter’s exit from the Carabao Cup at Manchester City won’t define his first season at Stamford Bridge, but with just two wins in his previous seven games, the 47-year-old is swiftly realizing that there is nowhere to hide at a large club.
Chelsea, now in seventh place in the Premier League, must travel to Newcastle this Saturday in their final game before the World Cup. In addition to providing Potter with some much-needed downtime, the break comes after a rough stretch for Chelsea, making him a prime target for criticism of his performance thus far. A victory against Newcastle would lift spirits, but a loss there would be devastating, especially since they wouldn’t have another game until after the holidays.
Not good enough from Christian Pulisic
Less than two weeks remain until the United States World Cup opener against Wales on November 21. Coach Gregg Berhalter was likely pleased to see Christian Pulisic earn a start in a rare situation to get him game ready for the tournament. Under both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, Pulisic has struggled to earn regular playing time for Chelsea. His start against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium was just the fifth time he’s done so this season.
Southgate had good news from the Etihad; he saw John Stones, Raheem Sterling, and Mason Mount on the substitutes’ bench, and he saw that Grealish is in the kind of form that should alarm defenses in Qatar. Grealish had six shots, three of which were on target, but he still went scoreless.