Almost a similar dilemma to that of Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, but the North Londoners have a bit of ruggedness, especially in defence, as well as experience, because they've been here before.

Chelsea's form continues to plummet as they fall to another Premier League defeat, this time against Aston Villa, after taking the lead in a commanding first-half display.

However, the failure to protect their lead saw them surrender another three points from a winning position, taking their total points lost from such scenarios this season to 11, at least four more than any other side in the division.

The result has also seen them drop a place down in the Premier League standings as they are overtaken by Liverpool, and are now level on points with Man United, and just three points separate them from 10th-place Fulham.

After overcoming a two-goal deficit to rescue a point in an exacerbating second-half display at St. James' last weekend, the expectation was for Enzo Maresca's team to return to winning ways, although Villa was never going to be easy.

Their dominant first-half display saw the visitors fail to muster a shot on goal for the first half in the league under Unai Emery, and Joao Pedro's lone goal looked like the least they deserved, and gave signals of an even better half to come.

Unfortunately, it was to be a tale of two halves, as a different Villa emerged after the interval, showing why they have won each of their last ten games across all competitions, not by creating too much but by taking their limited chances.

Substitute Ollie Watkins scored a few minutes after coming on just before the hour mark, and then a header later in the game to equal the longest winning run in the history of Aston Villa, a run of 11 straight wins set outside the top flight in 1897 and 1914.

Second-half was theirs against Newcastle, while the first was against Aston Villa. Enzo Maresca is aware that his side must be able to keep top form over the course of 90 minutes, because the Premier League punishes every lack of concentration at any point in games.

What went wrong for Chelsea

With just one win in their last six Premier League games, Chelsea have already created a deficit that separates them from genuine title contenders, because five losses before the end of the first half of the season isn't a quality of a potential champion.

The return of Cole Palmer was supposed to make them a better side, but things have gone from good to bad since the midfielder's return, with the team losing the balance that saw them dominate their opponent.

Although the performances weren't bad, their inability to see them out and put chances away has hurt them really badly, which has given rise to questions about whether the players and managers rely too much on the former City man.

Chelsea, just like the current Arsenal 

Just like Chelsea, Arsenal are also currently going through the same phase. They created glorious goalscoring opportunities but struggled to put them away, a reality that has seen five of the six goals in their last four games either come from own goals or penalties.

Mikel Arteta's team has also been punished by their opponents, who have barely gotten chances in these games, like Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup and Wolves in the league, but the margins have favoured them.

But further back, they have been punished for their wastefulness. Like in the loss at Villa Park, the draw at Chelsea, and when their winning run ended in a 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Chelsea is in a similar situation, and this isn't because the team is not as good as it used to be, but a phase where the ball won't just go into the back of the net.

Can Chelsea turn the tide?

Maybe a superstition, but the consistency of the Premier League Manager of the Month curse from January to November makes it a genuine jinx.

All previous winners of the award since the turn of the year have struggled, from the best managers to the lucky ones. All have suffered in the following months, and it appears the Chelsea manager was not escaping it.

Things may get better when the award is passed to another manager, when December expires. But January will be a month to start over, and no favour awaits because some tough fixtures are lined up, including City in the league and Arsenal in the Cup.

Defensively, Chelsea are becoming passive. Two avoidable goals conceded against Aston Villa, while Newcastle United opened them up so much that Robert Sanchez was their player of the match despite conceding two goals. The team can not afford to be so leaky in defence, especially with the run of games coming up.

If this isn't fixed, then the club may have more than the Manager of the month award curse to contend with, because things will hardly improve afterwards.

Tougher second half of the season awaits 

Trips to Liverpool, Arsenal, and Villa Park await, while they are yet to play Manchester City at all, and will face their bogey team, Fulham, in another league double header. Spurs, Newcastle, and Crystal Palace, are also fixtures that won't be easy.

However, Chelsea have recently proven that they can take on any team and even went the whole of November without a defeat despite playing Spurs, Barcelona, and Arsenal.

Enzo Maresca has almost a full house at the moment, but will hope the injury that saw Marc Cucurella come off early in the second half of the loss to Aston Villa is not serious.

To stop the falling sky, Enzo Maresca does not have much to change. He just has to hope his players attend games with their scoring boots, and luck stays on his side, because a team can hardly do better.