Ranking the 10 most embarrassing Chelsea defeats in the Premier League | OneFootball

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It’s certainly been a rough start to the season for Chelsea. One win in their first six games, collecting five points from a possible eighteen, and with no European Football to focus on through the week, it’s certainly looking as gloomy as an English summer for The Blue side of West London at the time of writing.

This got us thinking here at GiveMeSport about some of the worst defeats that the Blues have suffered over the years. For all of their triumphs and trophies, they haven’t been immune to being humbled every once in a while. With that being said, here are the 10 most embarrassing defeats Chelsea have suffered in Premier League history.

10 Chelsea 2-5 West Bromwich Albion – April 3rd 2021

A match that has mostly been forgotten about by the wider football universe because it took place in the horrific time vacuum that was the ‘no fans allowed’ period of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, fans of Chelsea and West Brom will remember this game very well, but for completely different reasons.

Chelsea went 1-0 up through Christian Pulisic, but once Thiago Silva got sent off, the tide started to turn. A substitution from each team proved to be the biggest difference makers, as a defensive one for Chelsea and an attacking one for The Baggies led to Big Sam putting his team 4-1 up by the 70th minute. What’s even more amazing is that the winning team went on to get relegated a few weeks later, while the losers finished in the top four as winners of the UEFA Champions League.

9 Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool – October 31st 2015

It’s rather fitting that such a horrifying game for both Chelsea and Jose Mourinho took place on Halloween, but when you end up losing your job because of a result, you know that it needs to end up on a list of the most embarrassing losses.

For context, Chelsea had taken 11 points from their first 30, while Liverpool weren’t much better with 14 points and their new manager Jurgen Klopp hadn’t won a league match since taking over the club. However, by the end of the game, it was clear that a new, exciting era was arriving at Liverpool, while it was the end of one at Chelsea and one that, judging by the form at the time, should have ended a long time before.

8 Chelsea 1-4 Brentford – April 2nd 2022

The 2021/2022 season was a big one for Brentford as it was their first-ever venture into the top flight of English football since the 1940s, so it’s no surprise that teams were licking their lips when they got the chance to play them. However, Chelsea didn’t know what hit them when they played them at Stamford Bridge.

The days of Stamford Bridge being a fortress seemed like a distant memory when the newly promoted Brentford put four past the European and World Champions in April 2022, firmly cementing themselves as a Premier League team, and putting a dark cloud over Chelsea’s home for a day at least.

7 Chelsea 2-4 Manchester City – February 27th 2010

Well... this was eventful. Chelsea finished the 2009/2010 season as Premier League Champions and FA Cup winners, with many considering this to be arguably the team’s best season as a whole. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t have its speed bumps along the way.

Beginning with Wayne Bridge embarrassing John Terry by ignoring his handshake, the game eventually descended into a disaster for Chelsea as City put four goals past Hilario, both Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti got themselves sent off, and proved that while they might be able to cross the line, they were still vulnerable along the way.

6 Liverpool 5-1 Chelsea – September 21st 1996

Anfield has always been a difficult place to play, even in Liverpool’s most difficult periods, but this was during a time in Chelsea’s history when they were making their case as the next big team to worry about in the Premier League. So getting beaten so badly by one of your new rivals isn’t going to be a good look.

Ruud Gullit’s men were given something of a reality check by Roy Evans’ Liverpool side as they conceded five goals away from home. They did get a consolation at the end of the game which covered up part of the poor performance, but had they not won the FA Cup a few months later, this might have been one of the more memorable parts of Chelsea’s 1996/1997 season.

5 Watford 4-1 Chelsea – February 5th 2018

Chelsea’s defence of the Premier League title in 2017/2018 started off on the wrong foot, losing at home to Burnley, which set the tone for the whole year. People kept asking if they would qualify for the Champions League, would the new signings ever find their form, and how long it would take before the revolving door of managers at Stamford Bridge began spinning again, and this trip to Watford certainly didn’t help matters.

Another game that was hampered by the fact that Chelsea went down to 10 men after 30 minutes, and to their credit they fought back well with the game being level at 1-1 with seven minutes to play. However, a complete collapse that saw them concede three goals in eight minutes against a team who were still technically in a relegation fight is never good for the image of a team like Chelsea.

4 Bournemouth 4-0 Chelsea – January 30th 2019

It’s hard to pinpoint what happened in 2019, but Bournemouth somehow became Chelsea’s bogey team. The Cherries had only won three out of the 14 previous games against Chelsea in a head-to-head record that dates back to 1989, so to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their first meeting, Bournemouth decided to win by the biggest margin in the fixture’s history.

Eddie Howe’s side held firm in the first half before completely demolishing The Blues in the second half, putting four past them and putting a limited amount of time on Maurizio Sarri’s time as Chelsea manager in the process. The 2018/2019 season did have one more howler when it comes to Chelsea’s season, and don’t worry, we will get to that.

3 Manchester United 4-0 Chelsea - August 11th 2019

It’s the dawn of a new era. One of the club's most beloved players has returned to manage the team he became synonymous with. The first game of the new season is against one of the club's biggest rivals of the 21st century. If everything goes well, it could go down as one of the most memorable matches in club history. What could go wrong?...

Rather than having a fairytale start to his time as Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard was embarrassed by Manchester United, who also needed a good start to the season after their disastrous end to the previous one. Two goals from Marcus Rashford, plus goals for Anthony Martial and Daniel James kicked Frank’s time off as Chelsea manager in the worst possible way, and judging by the fact that the club seemed to do a lot better after his departure in 2021, it was a sign of things to come.

2 Leeds United 3-0 Chelsea – August 21st 2022

As stated at the beginning of this article, Chelsea have had a rather rough start to the Premier League season. But if we are basing things on history, this season should be a great one for The Blues as they always seem to bounce back after a poor campaign. But where did this poor run of form begin? The answer is Elland Road.

This 3-0 loss to Leeds United was Chelsea's first of 16 for the 2022/2023 season. Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off, fans continued to get on Thomas Tuchel’s back, who was eventually sacked a few weeks later, and even though the 4-1 losses to both Brighton and Manchester United might seem worse on paper, you could argue that those results stemmed from this trip to Elland Road.

1 Manchester City 6-0 Chelsea - February 10th 2019

An easy number one as it is one of Chelsea’s biggest losses in the club’s history, let alone Premier League history. It’s fairly common nowadays to see Manchester City putting six goals past an opponent regardless of the competition, but when it happens to a team that are supposed to be one of your biggest competitors, it will always get remembered by both teams.

By this point in the 2018/2019 season, Chelsea had fallen away from the title picture, as Manchester City and Liverpool decided to become the two best teams in the world and create their own little mini-league at the top of the table. In the midst of all this, Chelsea had to travel to the Etihad and were thumped 6-0 with four of those goals coming in the first half and three of them going to Sergio Aguero. Had they not won the Europa League a few months later, this would have been the most memorable part of a disappointing season for Chelsea.