Chelsea needs to bounce back from their Boxing Day setback to Fulham, which ended their nine-game winning streak in the Premier League, and win at Ipswich Town on Monday, according to manager Enzo Maresca.
Maresca explained that every match in the competition was challenging after Chelsea, who are in second place, suffered their third defeat of the season on Friday.
“We never thought that we’d win every game… it’s just a matter of how we react,” the manager told reporters. “You need to go again no matter the result.”
Despite being 19th in the table and without a home win, newly promoted Ipswich, who will play Arsenal later today, have had some positive results since November, including home draws with Manchester United and victories at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur.
Under manager Kieran McKenna, who guided the team to consecutive promotions to the Championship and the Premier League, Maresca felt Ipswich was performing well.
“We have a bad feeling about the last game… hopefully we can come back with three points,” he added.
Thursday’s 2-1 loss to Fulham, Chelsea’s rivals, was the team’s first home loss since 1979.
