Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said he was confident Chelsea would secure a top-four finish following the club’s goalless draw with Manchester United due to their impressive defensive record in the Premier League so far this season.
Yesterday’s stalemate at Stamford Bridge meant the Blues remained in fifth place and missed out on the chance to leapfrog West Ham into the Champions League qualification places.
However, Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten record since taking over the reins from Frank Lampard remained intact and Chelsea’s goals against column stands out as the second-best in the English top flight after 26 games.
Only runaway league leaders Manchester City have conceded fewer goals (16) than the west London outfit (25) this term.
Assessing Chelsea’s top-four hopes in the Sky Sports studio following Sunday’s draw, club hero Hasselbaink said: ‘I’m more convinced that Chelsea will make it because at the moment, they don’t get any goals against and that’s a big thing.
‘They only need to score one goal to win matches, they’re not getting counter-attacked that much.
‘Also, they’re not getting goals against in set pieces so in that aspect its good.
‘Against Manchester United they got the best chance in the game and I still believe Chelsea will be in the top four.’
An upbeat Tuchel said he was ‘absolutely happy’ with Chelsea’s performance against United and felt his side were ‘very close’ to coming away from the heavyweight encounter with all three points.
‘It was a high quality game between two very strong teams,’ the German said.
‘We suffered in the first half but overall it was an even game. In the second half I thought we were really strong.
‘I thought we were closer to winning it, but there was a lot of quality on the pitch. Performance-wise, I’m satisfied.
‘We defended very well in the last line and I’m very happy with that.
‘We were not good enough in the first half to attack the spaces. To find the solution was not always easy and we lost a bit of confidence with some easy ball losses.
‘We said at half-time not to worry. We changed to a 5-3-2 to have higher ball recoveries and to regain confidence, and the boys did that very well. We were very close to winning.
‘We take what we got. I’m absolutely happy. Against a team like Man United you don’t get many chances.’
Chelsea will hope to get back to winning ways and boost their top-four chances with victory away to champions Liverpool on Thursday night.
Jurgen Klopp’s men, decimated by injuries to a host of key players, have looked a long way from their best but will be buoyed by their win at Sheffield United which brought an end to their miserable run of four successive losses in the league.
Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
MORE : AC Milan to discuss permanent Fikayo Tomori transfer with Chelsea
MORE : Thomas Tuchel lauds Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante for ‘taking Bruno Fernandes out of the game’
Full Post Here - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink rates Chelsea’s top-four chances after Manchester United stalemate
Get Bitcoin Watching YouTube
