Arsene Wenger left Richard Keys in hysterics after making a well calculated claim about Chelsea’s top four chances this season.
The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton on Saturday on the south coast, and they are now in fifth place, two points off West Ham in fourth.
Chelsea are unbeaten under Thomas Tuchel so far, but put in one of their worst performances at St Mary’s since the German replaced Frank Lampard.
And the display left the man dubbed ‘Le Professeur’, Wenger, doing the maths over whether they had enough to finish in a Champions League qualification spot.
“I would say it’s a fair result with one team happier than the other one, Southampton certainly the happier after stopping their losing slump,” Wenger said on beIN Sports.
“What’s a bit worrying for Chelsea is they were not at their best, which happens in this league, but you don’t feel a huge potential in there, not on the tactical side nor on the physical side nor on the aggressive side nor on the organisational side.
“So I looked just at their number of points, on that run they will make 63 points. That could be a fraction short of top four.”
A laughing Keys told Wenger in almost disbelief: “[It’s] Remarkable how your mind works. That’s the last thing that was on mine.
“So you think they’re on the cusp of maybe not qualifying?”
Wenger went on: “I just think they made 43 points out of 25 games and on that average it gets you to 63 and 63 usually you’re out.
“They can of course have a great run but today their game was a bit frustrating for them. They didn’t find the fluency to put Southampton under pressure.”
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