Pochettino expects Chelsea to bounce back against Wolves

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino expects a strong response from his team on the heels of its 4-1 rout by Liverpool on Wednesday when it hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Sunday.

Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Chelsea | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino expects a strong response from his team on the heels of its 4-1 rout by Liverpool on Wednesday when it hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Sunday.

Pochettino was candid in saying his side was not good against Jurgen Klopp’s league-leading Liverpool, but added Chelsea was on the receiving end of what he thought were two poor and potentially game-changing refereeing decisions.

“I think the performance wasn’t good enough. It’s important to be realistic that we were not good enough,” Pochettino told reporters on Friday. “But what I can say, after two days, some decisions happened in the game that maybe today we can talk about in a different way.

“At five minutes, we had one (penalty). It was so clear. Liverpool were better after 90 minutes. But if different things happen, maybe it provides us the confidence and the trust, maybe the direction of the game will be different.”

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Chelsea had two penalty appeals turned down, with both checked by VAR, the first when Virgil van Dijk brought down Conor Gallagher and the second when the Dutch defender appeared to kick Christopher Nkunku.

Chelsea is 10th in the table on 31 points after 22 games, while Wolves is two points behind them in 11th.

Nkunku was a second-half substitute against Liverpool in the striker’s first action since a hip injury sidelined him at the beginning of January and he scored the Blues’ lone goal.

Pochettino looks forward to Nkunku being fit enough to play a full game.

“It’s good to see him but ... we need to analyse and assess him to see if he can start the next game,” he said. “We hope he can cope with the demand of the game and maybe he can play more than just 45 minutes. We need to keep working with him.

“We need to care about his situation step by step, building his confidence and fitness. He needs to work really hard to get to his best,” he added. “Happy with the way he’s helping the team, but we need to be careful when we push him to be the best.”