Chelsea vs. Wolves on Sunday isn’t just a game; it’s everything

When Chelsea take on Wolves on Championship Sunday, they hold their future in the palm of their hands.

Chelsea will host Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final match of the Premier League season, with the Blues currently fourth while Wolves are sixth. Both are fighting for something, but one is fighting a whole lot more in the long run.

That club is, of course, Chelsea Football Club. Having been locked in a race for the top four all season, Champions League qualification boils down to the very last day. While they face Wolves, Leicester City simultaneously take on Manchester United.

There are nine possible permutations of what can happen on Sunday; seven of those end with Chelsea in the top four, but two of them don’t. If manager Frank Lampard and his side fail to get a point and Leicester pick up at least one, they are out.

Chelsea have not always been in the top four recently, and they have had success elsewhere, but this season qualifying becomes infinitely more important for several reasons.

This game will show the resolve of Chelsea’s young side

It is no secret that one aspect Lampard’s team lacks is experience. Captain Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho and Willian are the only players in the team who have clear championship-level pedigree, but the rest are either young or inexperienced.

There has been a youth revolution at Chelsea this season, with academy players such as Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James, and Fikayo Tomori breaking into the first team and becoming key players.

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Combine this with already-established academy players like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi, as well as rising American superstar Christian Pulisic, and you get a very young and exciting team.

For the majority of this side, this will be the most important game of their careers so far, and how they react to this challenge will say a lot about what they can achieve in the near future.

The fact that Chelsea only need a point to qualify also changes things, but the mentality must be to go out there and win the match, as they did in the reverse fixture at Molineux, a 5-2 victory.

Many eyes will be on Pulisic especially, to see how he can handle the biggest stage. His teammates need him, his manager needs him, his fans need him, and his club needs him, to deliver.

The same can be said for others, like Mount, under-fire goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, and veteran striker Olivier Giroud, but Pulisic will be the main focus around the country and the world.

He has already shown he will be a spectacular player during his career, but he must now show he can step up when it matters most. After all, that is what separates the good from the great.

Chelsea look to be getting even younger this summer, getting rid of older players and replacing them with more young talent. But this new wave of youth will only succeed if they have the mindset and resolve to get wins when they’re needed the most.

This is one of those games, and how the players fare on Sunday will be an indication of whether they still need some time to get that clutch gene, or whether they are already there.

Chelsea need top four to attract world-class players

Having already signed Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, with Kai Havertz seemingly on the way, Lampard is out for more, now at the other end of the pitch. Some exceptional players like Jan Oblak, Kalidou Koulibaly and Jose Maria Gimenez have been touted.

For such players, they are used to being in Europe’s top competition every year, so moving to a club in the Europa League would feel like a huge step down. This is not something the Blues can afford as they seek to secure top talent.

Saying “play well so we can buy better players to replace you” isn’t exactly the motivating factor this team needs, but Lampard, as well as the higher-ups at Chelsea, will be fully aware of the implications of missing out on a top-four spot.

Playing Champions League football is a statement of intent to the world, which goes for other teams as well as potential signings, so based on that alone it would do Chelsea the world of good to finish off the season positively and get the win.

Lampard himself must also prove he has what it takes

Much like his players, the Blues legend is an inexperienced manager. His first season as a manager was for Derby County in the Championship, where he did pretty well, but Chelsea is a whole other story.

Experienced managers know what it takes to win any match, but in one-game, do-or-die situations, the position of the head coach becomes so much more important.

So far, Lampard has shown himself to be adept at single-game management, winning key games against Tottenham Hotspur and United, but this game is the most important one of them all. It decides the season, and he will have a lot to do with how it turns out.

He has some difficult decisions to make, such as what formation to play (3-4-3 or 4-3-3), whether or not to bench Willian after some poor, sluggish performances, and whether or not to stick with an underperforming Kepa in goal.

These are just some of the choices managers have to make every game, but in one of this magnitude, every single choice he makes will be put under a microscope afterward. He, like the players, must do whatever it takes to win.

The upcoming match against Wolves will have monumental implications going forward because nowadays being in the Champions League is so crucial to a team’s success and attraction.

Lampard and his players are in control of their destiny, and one game will decide it all. It’s up to them how they respond.