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Chelsea and Sheffield United supporters have both had difficult seasons, and many of the frailties of both sides were on show in this draw.

Against a side bottom of the table, who have conceded more than 80 goals and seem destined for the drop, Mauricio Pochettino would have preferred a dominant performance. And despite struggling to grasp control throughout, Chelsea were leading until the dying minutes when an Oli McBurnie goal denied Chelsea three points.

For what has been a season full of lows, European football remains a possibility, but three points here would have put Chelsea in among the chasing pack.

Our Chelsea writer Liam Twomey breaks down the game.

Could this enigma of a team qualify for Europe?

Chelsea remain resolutely unimpressive. This was two more points dropped despite scoring twice against a Sheffield United team that has now conceded a Premier League record 47 times at home, with the benefit of a second-half Madueke strike that arrived against the run of play. 

What could have been a three-point gap to sixth-placed Manchester United with a game in hand remains five. Chelsea are unbeaten in 11 matches across all competitions since their last defeat in 90 minutes, at home to Wolves on February 4, and unbeaten in the Premier League in seven, yet there is no sense of momentum, only of opportunities undone by unforced errors.

Europa League qualification is not yet out of reach, but on this evidence a season spent overwhelmingly mired in mid-table looks likeliest to end there. 

(DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images)

How to make sense of all this? Pochettino’s team have real spirit to enhance their undeniable individual talent, headlined by Palmer. In recent weeks that particular cocktail would have been enough to get results and build real momentum, were more potent attacking play not all too frequently undone by a chronically leaky defence.

Looking at Chelsea’s run-in offers few clues as to their fate, since this is a team equally capable of holding Manchester City to a draw at the Etihad Stadium and lighting two points on fire at home to 10-man Burnley. Who is to say they cannot get something from Tottenham at home or Arsenal away, and who is to say they will get anything from Nottingham Forest on the road or Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge?

All we can say is that on this evidence, few would be confident of Chelsea getting out of their own way long enough to sustain a real charge for European qualification.

Did Palmer prove his best spot is at No 10?

Mauricio Pochettino sprang a tactical surprise at Bramall Lane, arranging his players in a loose 3-5-2 rather than his customary 4-2-3-1. One of the features of this shift was that it tasked Cole Palmer with operating almost exclusively as a No 10 behind Nicolas Jackson, not simply drifting into central areas from the right flank.

Cole Palmer becomes the first Chelsea player to be directly involved in 25+ goals in a single Premier League season since Eden Hazard (31) in 2018/19 🥶 pic.twitter.com/j4VEAqbngH

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 7, 2024

One curled pass from the centre circle sent Marc Cucurella running into a crossing position. Another give-and-go initiated with Enzo Fernandez outside the penalty area almost created a shooting chance for Nicolas Jackson. At times Palmer even directed play elsewhere, instructing Axel Disasi to clip a pass into the right channel that came close to releasing Noni Madueke.

But his 29 touches in the first half were the third-lowest of any Chelsea player, beaten only by Jackson and Djordje Petrovic. As they grew in confidence Sheffield United succeeded more often in crowding him out, and the quality of service into him deteriorated rapidly after Jayden Bogle’s equaliser. 

The second half seemed to be following a similar track until the 66th minute, when Palmer received a Jackson pass on the half-turn and quickly moved the ball on to Madueke, who cut inside and lashed Chelsea back in front. In that sequence the attacking theory of Pochettino’s set-up was validated, and Palmer’s status as the brain of this team reinforced.

Do defensive frailties transcend formations?

The long wait for Chelsea’s sixth Premier League clean sheet of 2023-24 goes on. 

Bramall Lane seemed the ideal setting for it to arrive; no team in the division has scored fewer goals or averaged fewer shot attempts per game than Sheffield United. But this Chelsea team lacks the individual discipline and the collective attention to defensive detail to be relied upon for anything when the ball goes near their goal.

Pochettino tried to change things up, parking Thiago Silva in something akin to his Thomas Tuchel-era comfort zone in the middle of a back three in possession, and for a while Chelsea looked supremely comfortable in front of an audibly agitated home crowd.

But the warning signs were there before Bogle struck. Silva played a blind pass into his own box intended for Petrovic but instead found Oli McBurnie, who gave strike partner Ben Brereton Diaz an unguarded net only for his shot to be deflected by Moises Caicedo. 

(George Wood/Getty Images)

Sheffield United began to realise how easy it was to sneak the ball either side of Caicedo and Fernandez and built their attacks from there. It is where the first equaliser came from: McBurnie laying the ball back to Gustavo Hamer to slip through Bogle, who surprised Petrovic by going for goal rather than crossing. The Serb’s positioning could have been better.

Chelsea’s dominance of the ball, as so often, brought only the illusion of control, shattered at the first hint of opposition threat. It is very hard to see where that sixth Premier League clean sheet will come from, regardless of the personnel or formation Pochettino chooses.

What did Pochettino say?

We will bring you reaction after the match.

What next for Chelsea?

Monday, April 15: Everton (H), Premier League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET

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(Top photo: DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images)