Chelsea got their first win under Guus Hiddink as they beat Crystal Palace away from home with a magnificent performance. Three goals and a clean sheet for the Blues certainly lifted a bit of the blue feeling for Chelsea fans as the club moved to 14th in the table and the big question would be where the Blues can finish come the end of the season.
Chelsea still have 18 games left till the end and sit just 13 points behind Tottenham for the fourth Champions League spot, which Jose Mourinho stated was out of their reach but the way this season has progressed, no one can be taken out of the equation until it is mathematically impossible to reach any position.
Chelsea will be hopeful of a better second half of the season especially under Guus, who had a great spell at Stamford Bridge during his earlier stint with the club and if the Blues do achieve that kind of form they could well end the season in a top 10 place or even better.
Guus to get rid of the blues?
Looking at the Premier League fixtures to come, the two toughest fixtures at the moment for the Blues would be the away trips to Arsenal and Chelsea. The London club play Manchester United, Tottenham and Manchester City at home in the second half of the season which could help them claw back a few points and positions in their race to qualify for Europe.
Chelsea will get better under Guus as it seems that the shackles are completely off and the players look like they want to play for the Dutch manager and not under Jose Mourinho. Chelsea will also be looking to get Diego Costa back to goal scoring form, something that he seems to have found under the new manager.
The Blues aren’t that far off a European place while the Champions League would be their best chance of getting into next year’s competition by winning it this season, something that the Blues have done before. They could still finish the season in a top eight position.
Chelsea don’t really have to play too many games which are tough away from home and that will only help them get more points at home. Chelsea have already lost nine games in the league this season and will be looking to avoid making it another nine by the time the season ends.
If the player do decide to turn up and play for the manager, Chelsea easily should make it into the top ten as some of the other clubs in the top half of the league could slip away as the season progresses but anything higher than that and Chelsea would need to be a little lucky and win the tough away matches against some of the big clubs in the league.
Guus Hiddink might just be able to save Chelsea’s season, they might not get relegated but they wouldn’t probably won’t finish in the top four this year.