Why Chelsea fans will be petitioning for more Monday Premier League games | OneFootball

Everyone hates Mondays. But if you’re a Chelsea fan you might be coming round to the idea of them.

The Blues beat Everton 6-0 on Monday night to bolster their hopes of securing European football for next season. Although Chelsea remained ninth, they are now just three points behind sixth-placed Newcastle with a game in hand — and one point off West Ham in eighth having played two matches fewer.

Those games in hand are against Arsenal and Tottenham, but there may be room for some optimism among Chelsea fans. And they may petition the Premier League to play the remainder of their games this season on a Monday.

In total, Chelsea have played five games on a Monday in the Premier League this season, winning all five. Of course, this alone doesn’t say much, as they could have just played five poor teams on a Monday. But that isn’t the case.

Chelsea’s first Monday game of the season came in October with the short trip to Craven Cottage for a west London derby against Fulham. At the time, the Blues had won just one of their opening six league games and were below Fulham in the table. But they were pretty comfortable in their 2-0 win thanks to goals from Mykhailo Mudryk and Armando Broja.

Then came that bizarre match against Tottenham Hotspur a month later in which Chelsea came from a goal down to eventually win 4-1, with their hosts being reduced to nine men and insisting to still play the highest of high lines.

Chelsea had to wait until February for their next Monday game, which was another away London derby, this time against Crystal Palace. This win was more laboured, as Chelsea scored two late goals to secure the 3-1 victory in a game that Crystal Palace will definitely have felt aggrieved to not have taken at least a point.

That game actually started Chelsea’s current unbeaten run in the Premier League, which now stands at eight. There have only been three more victories, with two of those coming in Monday matches. The first was a bit of a shock as Chelsea beat Newcastle 3-2 to get revenge for their 4-1 loss earlier in the season, before the most recent 6-0 victory over Everton.

At five victories, Chelsea have won more games on a Monday than any other team in the Premier League this season — but that is because they have played the most games on that day. Arsenal (two), Fulham (three) and Tottenham (two) are the only other sides to have played more than one game on a Monday in the league this season, with the Gunners also boasting a perfect record. Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City and West Ham have won their only Premier League game on a Monday this season.

Chelsea fans shouldn’t really be surprised at their Monday success. The Blues have won 11 of their 15 Premier League games on a Monday since the start of the 2016/17 season, including another perfect record of five from five in 2016/17.

At the other end of the spectrum, Chelsea cannot stand playing on Sundays. Maybe it’s something about the game coming at the end of a long week, but Chelsea have won just one of their 10 Premier League games on Sundays this season. That victory was the 3-2 win over Brighton at home to start December, a result surrounded by three defeats. Of the remaining nine games, Chelsea have lost five and drawn four, most recently dropping two points to a late equaliser from Sheffield United.

Chelsea also have perfect records on Thursday and Friday (one win each), with one victory from three on Wednesdays and four wins from 11 on Saturdays.