Chelsea leads the league, right?

Seems to be the week for Chelsea bashing around the sites, they obviously aren’t in great form and have finally started to get hit with the injury bug (maybe they caught it from Manchester United in the game at Stamford Bridge a couple of weeks back).
But a look at the standings (and I double-checked) shows the Blues leading the league by four points, and there’s good reason – even with their current slide – that they will able to dethrone Manchester United.
Let’s take the problems one by one, shall we?

1) Ancelotti’s diamond
Probably the most troubling of the problems for me, because without Jose Bosingwa, the width is basically sliced in half – although Branislav Ivanovic does his best to get forward. Frank Lampard gets the ball, looks around, and just sees bodies of both colors in his face and gets frustrated. Michael Ballack is found in a wide position, and I don’t have to go any further on that one. Michael Essien is in a holding role and seems restricted.
It has allowed Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka on the field at the same time, which is a plus. But I think Ancelotti is going to look at his team and figure he needs to get people like Florent Malouda, Joe Cole, and Yuri Zhirkov out wide and allow Lampard to roam the middle again (with Ballack spending most of his time on the bench probably). They’ll give up a little in the middle of the park, but they’ll be smoother and be able to create more chances.

2) What will happen when the players leave for the African Cup?
They’ll lose Drogba, Mikel, Essien, and Kalou, but I think this may help Ancelotti look at these other players and give them some run.
Daniel Sturridge has been waiting for his chance and should be motivated to do the job. Malouda, Cole, And Zhirkov should feature regularly, and I’m guessing they get a few goals and Chelsea still has the lead when the Africans return.

3) Petr Cech and the set piece disaster
This is a troubling one, too, and their solution is to play higher to give Cech more room behind, but it seemed against West Ham there was too much room for Cech to cover. It seems like Cech’s problems come mostly when he comes off his line, so it’s up to guys like John Terry to do the job (seldom mentioned, but Ricky Carvalho is not great on set pieces, either, and I wonder if Alex isn’t a better fit right now). But the fact that Chelsea knows they have a problem means I’m confident they will fix it, although Drogba is their best defender against set pieces.

4) Tired, old legs
Fixture congestion, and the fact that Ancelotti doesn’t do wholesale subs in Cup games (at least not yet), means that a lot of Chelsea’s older players may wear down as we head to March and April.
It is a problem, but I think Ballack’s play will eventually force him out of the lineup, and Lampard, Terry, and Drogba stay in very good shape and should be able to make it to the end of the campaign (what that means for England and Ivory Coast? who knows?)

5) The competitors?
What will help Chelsea most the rest of the season is the stumbling by its chief rivals, Manchester United and Arsenal. The injuries in the back to the Devils and to Robin van Persie for the Gunners leave them hobbled, and Liverpool – well, you know.
So it may not be pretty and they won’t set any records for point totals, but I am fairly confident that in May, Chelsea will be back on top of the Premier League, despite their recent hiccup.

The Champions League? Well, that’s another story.