Joao Felix and the Chelsea number 9 curse

The last '9' to excel at Stamford Bridge was Diego Costa and it has been six years since his departure. Since then, neither Alvaro Morata, nor Romelu Lukaku, nor Timo Werner, nor Tammy Abraham, nor Gonzalo Higuain, nor Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, nor Kai Havertz have managed to break a curse that Joao Felix is now facing: the '9' curse.

This is how their own fans refer to the failure of Chelsea's new-look strikers to excel, a problem that has been made worse in the last season, with Havertz having scored four Premier League goals, Aubameyang one and Raheem Sterling just four.

This makes the London side a poor attacking side, with 20 goals in 17 games, half as many as Arsenal and 25 fewer than Manchester City. In three meetings in three months, the Cityzens have beaten them in all three games, scoring seven goals and conceding none.

The Blues are far from being able to fight for the Permier League title, and in addition to their goal drought, they have lost their defensive efficiency, the hallmark of Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea, who won the Champions League in 2021.