Chelsea lose three out of four Premier League matches as Liverpool win 2-1

Heading towards December and Chelsea find themselves in fourth place in the Premier League 12 points adrift of leaders Manchester City – new money, new elite, after a late, spectacular individual goal from former Chelsea starlet Glen Johnson gave King Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool a 2-1 win yesterday at Stamford Bridge.

The knives are already out for Chelsea’s young manager Andre Villas-Boas after just four months in the west London hot seat after yesterdays’ result.  Chelsea have lost three of their last four Premier League matches.  But AVB confidently deflected post-match questions that he is now under extreme pressure and insisted he was still in favour with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich & that together they were still working on long-term plans.  Though away from the media I would be surprised if Andre Villas-Boas isn’t looking over his shoulder, especially following the news last week that Guus Hiddink is now interested in a move back to Chelsea where his short reign as caretaker manager was heralded by all as a great success, culminating in Chelsea winning the FA Cup for some time now.

I see Hiddink being offered a ‘Director of Football’ type role, where he would effectively be on standby, ready to take over the reins if AVB becomes the latest manager to come and go as Roman Abramovich continues to crave instant success.

Liverpool are now joint fourth place, level on points with Chelsea ahead of Tottenham’s game tonight at home to Aston Villa.  The game will see the welcome return of Harry Redknapp after minor heart surgery.  If Chelsea end the year in such a position that Champions League qualification is not looking likely, I believe AVB will be sacked.