What Marc Cucurella has said about this Chelsea team is absolutely spot on – the stats back him up

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Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has been speaking following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa over the weekend.

Despite taking the lead at Villa Park through Enzo Fernandez, Enzo Maresca‘s men went on to lose the game after Marco Asensio’s match-winning performance.

The Spaniard scored two second-half goals, but Chelsea had enough opportunities to claim the three points for themselves.

Cole Palmer got some things wrong in the final third — a rarity for him — and Cucurella has now called out the whole team for not being clinical enough.

• READ MORE: Whether Cole Palmer can leave Chelsea if they miss out on Champions League football, Todd Boehly decision plays huge factor

Marc Cucurella says Chelsea aren’t clinical enough

With Villa being quite a strong team, it never felt like one goal would suffice for Chelsea.

Every Chelsea supporter knew that Maresca’s side needed to add to it, which they failed to do before ultimately losing the match.

Since then, Cucurella has said that the Blues need to improve and do better in front of goal.

Speaking to Chelsea’s official website, the left-back said: “I think we played well, in the first half especially. In the second half we lost a bit of control but we need to kill the game in some moments where we need to be more clinical.

“It is true we played well but it is not enough, we need to keep improving. We are not in a good part of the journey maybe, but we have another game in two days. We have two games at home next, so we cannot make more mistakes.”

That defeat and Newcastle United’s 4-3 win against Nottingham Forest have now seen Cucurella and his teammates drop down to seventh in the Premier League table.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
4	Man CityManchester City	26	13	5	8	52	37	15	44
5	NewcastleNewcastle	26	13	5	8	46	36	10	44
6	B’mouthBournemouth	26	12	7	7	44	30	14	43
7	ChelseaChelsea	26	12	7	7	48	36	12	43
8	Aston VillaAston Villa	27	11	9	7	39	41	-2	42
9	BrightonBrighton	26	10	10	6	42	38	4	40

It is not good enough, especially considering the start that they made to the season. Thankfully for Maresca, A top-five finish could secure Champions League qualification this term.

Chelsea creating chances under Enzo Maresca

At this moment in time, Chelsea are not performing well, while Maresca is now starting to come in for criticism after being lauded earlier in the campaign.

Some Chelsea fans have even called for Frank Lampard to replace the 45-year-old in the dugout. However, his team are still creating chances, which was evident to see at Villa Park over the weekend.

In fact, after champions-elect Liverpool, Chelsea have the highest xG in the Premier League, according to FBref.

Their xG is currently 51.5, but Maresca’s men have only scored 48 goals. It is not the largest difference between xG and actual goals, but with it being really tight in the race for Champions League football, those few goals that Chelsea did not score could come back to haunt them.

Their shots total and shots on target per 90 are also quite high, so again, the Blues are an attacking threat. But as Cucurella has just mentioned, they are simply not clinical enough.

Next up for Chelsea is a home tie against Southampton, who have the worst defensive record in the Premier League.

If Maresca’s side cannot beat them comfortably and by a few goals, then you would really have to start worrying for this Chelsea team.