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Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly has called for everyone at the club to “stick together” after another disappointing defeat for the Blues.

Graham Potter’s men lost 2-0 to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday, with the defeat leaving Chelsea 10th in the table.

The Blues have now failed to win any of their last eight away Premier League matches, drawing four and losing four. It is the club’s longest wait for an away victory in the competition since a 16-match run between April 2000 and March 2001.

Chelsea defender calls for unity

Contents

1 Chelsea defender calls for unity
- 1.1 Blues to focus on league or Europe?
  - 1.1.1 Chelsea struggling at both ends

Looking ahead to the club’s upcoming fixtures, Koulibaly has called for Chelsea players and supporters to “stick together” in a bid to turn things around.

The Blues host Leeds in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon to kick things off for March, with Borussia Dortmund then travelling to Stamford Bridge in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Bundesliga outfit make the trip to England having won the first leg of the round of 16 encounter 1-0 in Germany earlier this month.

Chelsea defender Koulibaly noted that the club’s focus is now very much on preparing for the two home fixtures, with the Senegal international explaining that everyone is doing their utmost to help steady the ship at Stamford Bridge.

“It is tough for everyone right now,” Koulibaly told the Chelsea website. “For the players, for the supporters but we must stick together and we are going to work really hard to get out of this situation.

“We have two big games coming up at Stamford Bridge and we need to work hard and prepare for those now.”

Blues to focus on league or Europe?

While Potter will be keen to enjoy a lengthy run in Europe, the manager will also be wary of the club’s hugely worrying position in the Premier League. The lack of League Cup or FA Cup distractions certainly works in the favour of the Blues.

The boss will undoubtedly be eyeing three points in the upcoming meeting against struggling Leeds, while the same can be said of their other league matches in March against Leicester and Everton, both of whom are in the bottom half of the table.

The must-win March fixtures come before a tricky April for Chelsea that sees them take on Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal.

Chelsea

Chelsea struggling at both ends

Chelsea’s final third struggles have been well documented this season, with the various Blues forwards failing to have any significant impact in front of goal.

Attacking duo Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz lead the club’s scoring charts, but they have each managed just six goals in all competitions.

Centre-back Koulibaly has also highlighted Chelsea’s problems at the back, with the Blues conceding two more goals at Spurs on Sunday.

“We know we need to improve,” added Koulibaly. “We are trying a lot of things in training and during the game we are trying to find the right combinations to score.

“It’s not happening for us at the moment but when that happens, we have to make sure we keep the opposition at zero [goals]. We didn’t quite get the balance because Spurs got a second goal and that made things very difficult.”