EPL 2017/18: Five reasons why Chelsea will finish outside the top four

#5 Matic’s absence

Nemanja Matic

When Chelsea sold Nemanja Matic to Manchester United for a fee in the region of £40m, eyebrows were raised. And the performances that the Serbian has put in for the Red Devils shows that the Blues may well miss his presence in the heart of the park.

People have been quick to criticise Matic during a season when N'Golo Kante would not have won the PFA Player of the Year accolade if not for the former Benfica man himself. The defensive assurance and physical presence he brought in the midfield eased out Kante’s task of breaking up play and recovering lost balls in the midfield.

Matic does lack pace and his replacement Tiemoue Bakayoko has more of it, but the summer capture from Monaco is more of that box to box commodity who likes to do the attacking bit more.

They missed Matic’s presence against Burnley and they may well miss him throughout the season. Jose Mourinho would be left to smirk proudly in the Old Trafford silhouette.