Enzo Maresca must fix worrying Chelsea trend this season that happened again at Lincoln

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Chelsea have seven games under their belt this season, and a concerning pattern has emerged that should set off alarm bells for Enzo Maresca.

The fixture list has been kind to Chelsea in the opening weeks, facing none of last season’s top eight in the Premier League. An away trip to Bayern Munich is the only game in which Enzo Maresca’s side weren’t the clear better team on paper.

Yet, the results haven’t exactly jumped off the page, with the Blues winning just three of their seven games so far.

Injuries have prevented Maresca from fielding his strongest line-up week after week, but there’s another factor well within the team’s control that has contributed to this lacklustre start.

Chelsea’s season has been a tale of two halves

On Tuesday night, League One outfit Lincoln were the superior side in the opening 45 minutes. However, this is just the latest chapter in what has been the story of Chelsea’s season so far.

The results tell half the story, but you need to go a bit deeper to arrive at the crux of the issue.

Chelsea’s performances in the first half of games are killing them this season. A ten-goal swing from one half to the other is no coincidence. If you remove the 5-1 hammering of West Ham, Chelsea have scored just once in the opening 45 minutes this season.

That’s a problem.

Enzo Maresca has to raise the intensity

Maresca described a heated half-time team talk at Lincoln, where he fumed at the performance his players were putting on. Once they returned to the pitch, Chelsea were much improved.

It only took them five minutes to turn the game on its head, courtesy of Tyrique George and Facundo Buonanotte.

• READ MORE: Tyrique George spares Chelsea’s blushes as Carabao Cup rule change not spotted by club

But it shouldn’t take a dressing down to spur the players into action. Starting games like that will only spell trouble as we go deeper into the season.

What Maresca has to do is find a way to foster that kind of intensity from the first whistle.

Whether that means making certain personnel changes, using words that inspire, or adopting some new pre-match ritual, that’s for the Argentine to figure out, but it’s absolutely paramount that he finds a way to buck this trend if Chelsea are to have any chance at silverware again this season.