. Pressure on Sarri after mutinous showing from supporters
.Chelsea’s next home game is against Brighton on April 3
Image: /REUTERS
Chelsea fans are voting with their feet against Maurizio Sarri’s dour reign with hundreds of season-ticket holders selling their seats for their upcoming Premier League matches.
There were empty seats at the last home game against Wolves and more are now expected when Brighton, West Ham and Burnley visit Stamford Bridge next month.
It puts further pressure on Sarri as a mutinous showing from supporters or boycott would alarm the board and push him closer to the sack.
More than 400 season-ticket holders on Wednesday night were listing their seats for sale on the club’s official exchange service for their game against West Ham. That is despite the clash on April 8 being a London derby.
Close to 700 were also selling tickets for the visit of Burnley on April 22. Sportsmail has spoken to other supporters with season tickets who have not posted their seats on the exchange, but do not plan to attend the upcoming fixtures. Other regular match-goers have already sold their tickets on the club’s exchange.
Chelsea’s next home game is against Brighton on April 3. The club announced the new date for that fixture on Tuesday afternoon and it is understood close to 150 then listed their seats for sale within 12 hours. Chelsea lost 2-0 to Everton on Sunday, leaving them sixth in the Premier League with eight games to go.
They remain in the fight for the Champions League positions, with only four points separating them and Tottenham in third.
They are also in the Europa League’s quarter-finals, where they will face Slavia Prague, and have a favourable path towards the final in Baku. Yet the number of tickets available on the club’s exchange suggests supporters are losing faith in Sarri.
Tickets for their clashes with Brighton and Burnley have even gone on general sale. Fans turned on the manager during their FA Cup loss to Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
They jeered his second-half substitutions and chanted about him getting sacked. Supporters also sang: ‘F*** Sarri-ball’, the name given to the style of play Sarri has tried to impose on his new team.