Europa League hangover hits flat Chelsea
LONDON — The grueling Thursday-to-Sunday turnaround that comes with playing in the Europa League might already be taking its toll on Chelsea.
By drawing 0-0 at West Ham, Chelsea dropped its first points in the Premier League and failed to score under Maurizio Sarri for the first time this season.
That Chelsea produced such a flat and insipid display at the London Stadium was perhaps no surprise, given six of the starting lineup against West Ham also began the Europa League match against PAOK Salonika in Greece on Thursday
And it probably didn’t help that the Chelsea squad only returned from Greece on Friday afternoon after its flight back to London — scheduled for late Thursday — was cancelled because of bad weather.