Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel reveals he is ‘not worried’ about facing West Ham despite his side’s loss to Southampton.
The Blues faced the Saints away from home on Tuesday night and fell to their second defeat of the season as they lost 2-1.
Raheem Sterling netted the opener, his third goal in two games, but Romeo Lavia and Adam Armstrong were both on hand to secure the win for the hosts.
Advert
Such a result means Chelsea have only won two of their opening five games in the Premier League this season, and they currently sit eighth in the table ahead of Wednesday night’s other fixtures.
They will now be preparing to face West Ham on Saturday afternoon, a fixture that they won right at the death towards the end of last season.
Despite the poor performance and result against Southampton, Tuchel has revealed he is not worried about the prospect of facing the Hammers.
"No, I'm not worried about the games coming up,” said the German when speaking to the media in his post-match press conference.
Advert
“The number of games? Yes, because I know what we're dealing with. Worried...no. I don't fear any opponent as I know what we are capable of.
“But this up and down, this face we showed today, and Leeds is not the face with which we can expect to get a lot of points away from home."
He also reflected on whether or not the momentum Chelsea had from their performance against Tottenham has diminished, having played so well but been so unlucky not to secure the win.
"Do you know what it reminded me of? Juventus last season.
Advert
“We played a fantastic match at Stamford Bridge, and after that, we had Chilly off for eight months and Kante out for three months.
"It was the same against Tottenham - we had a fantastic performance. After that, our key players say goodbye for six weeks in N'Golo.
“Then it's red cards, it's again a red card for Conor, Ruben goes off injured, Mateo Kovacic is injured for eight weeks since pre-season. This is what it reminds me of – Reece James is off for the game with illness too.
Advert
"It's key player after key player. It's a fact, and with our demands and the ambition we have it's simply like that.
“But it's even more important if these key players are missing that we need to show a different mentality. It's not enough at the moment to win at Leeds and Southampton.
"There's no shame in it; we are humble enough to admit we can lose football matches, although we hate it. But it's too easy to push us off the track, too easy to win challenges, too easy to bully us."
Despite the transfer window closing on Thursday evening, Chelsea are still set to be busy in the market as they chase final deals for the season ahead.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea, West Ham United, Southampton, Premier League