Arsenal legend Paul Merson has said that Chelsea have become easy to play against, given they are not able to create much with the possession at hand. The west London giants were regarded as the favourites to pick up a victory against Bournemouth, who were missing several key players through injury but that was not the case as the Cherries registered a 1-0 triumph.

Following the game, Merson said that the Blues have a confidence issue and they tend to struggle when they fail to find the breakthrough in the opening 20 minutes. He added that the squad consists of a number of young players and that has made them easy to play against with the opposition comfortable with their defensive work.

He told Sky Sports: “They definitely didn’t deserve to lose but they didn’t dominate Chelsea. I watch Chelsea a lot and if you can get through the first 20 minutes against them, their confidence seems to go. They’ve got a lot of young players and they are easy to play against sometimes. The pitch looks so small for the way they want to play, it just looks to easy to defend against. They’ve got a lot of young players and they are easy to play against sometimes. The pitch looks so small for the way they want to play, it just looks to easy to defend against.”

The Blues had gone into the previous international break with a healthy advantage in the race for the fourth spot but that has now reduced to three points with just three points garnered from the past five league matches. The club are scheduled to face Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur, who are fifth on the table next weekend and they can’t expect a tricky challenge, particularly with Spurs in form with four victories from the past five league games. Mourinho’s side have kept just one clean sheet in this period but they have flourished in the scoring department with an average of three goals.