Will Chelsea Win the Premier League This Season?

 


Chelsea is on a hot run under Enzo Maresca, sitting only two points behind league leaders, Liverpool, with a 10-4-2 record. Pundits won't stop talking about whether or not Chelsea are contenders for the EPL title, while the gaffer has been adamant they are not. It's been seven years since Chelsea won under Antonio Conte with talent like Eden Hazard, N'Golo Kante, and Thibaut Courtois between the sticks. While they've been progressively rising from the bottom-middle of the table, many believe this may be their year. 

 This is what Premier League Managers and Pundits have been saying about Chelsea this season:

Arne Slot (Liverpool)

Arne Slot acknowledged Chelsea's impressive form, stating that during Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Chelsea in October, he felt Chelsea was the superior team. He remarked, "It was one of the games, maybe the only game, where I felt the other team was better than us during that game."

Thomas Frank (Brentford Manager) 

Following Brentford's recent match against Chelsea, Frank referred to Chelsea as "maybe the best team in the Premier League right now."

Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)

In a recent interview, Pep expressed his frustration with the lack of squad depth as a reason for their poor performance. He insinuated Chelsea's 24 players squad is what he would need to circulated players to prevent injury and be on top. 

Pundits on BBC, Sky Sports, ESPNFC, and NBC Sports are all calling Chelsea title contenders despite Maresca's insistence they are not ready to compete against the likes of Liverpool or Arsenal. 

Why They MAY Have a Shot

I'm not saying pundits don't know what they're talking or that they're always right, but let's get an idea of where Chelsea current form against the form of their 16/17 title-winning squad. Back in 2017, the Blue Lions finished with a record of 30 wins, 3 draws, and 5 losses. They scored a total of 85 goals and conceded only 33. Manchester City, who took home the silverware last season, were 28-7-3 with 96 goals scored and 34 goals conceded. 

As of December 16, they have scored 37 and conceded 19. That means they need to score 59 goals and allow no more than 15 goals in 19 games. Since May, Chelsea have score 51 goals and they have only grown more lethal by adding Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho, and Joao Felix. With at least eight goal scorers this season and Cole Palmer's form, 59 might be a possibility. Enzo Fernandez has started to look more like his 100-million-pound valuation scoring and assisting goals in the last three games. Moises Caicedo in the midfield controls and distributes the ball with finesse and creativity. This squad has fans singing, "we've got our Chelsea back." 

The Biggest Problems

Many pundits are reluctant to call Chelsea sure winners for a couple of reasons, and it has nothing to do with the squad's 23-year average. The defense has been inconsistent this season, mainly due to injury. Though Marc Cucurrella and Malo Gusto have been fantastic on and off the ball, the team has felt the defensive loss of Reece James early on. The recent loss of Wesley Fofana disrupted the strong partnership with Levi Colwill. Axel Disasi has helped bring in a goal, but his defensive play has been riddled with silly errors, the same goes for Benoit Badiashile. 

The biggest problem voiced unanimously by the pundits is Robert Sanchez between the sticks. Many say that Filip Jorgensen is the better option of the two, but others say they both lack the quality to hold Chelsea at the top of the table. It has been said they should target a goalkeeper during the January transfer window, Aaron Ramsdale or Liverpool's Kelleher. However, Enzo Maresca has stated clearly that Robert Sanchez is his number one choice as the last line of defense. 

Chelsea plays against Everton on Sunday, December 22 at Goodison Park. A win will catapult them into first place until the result of the Liverpool-Fulham match.     


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