After a pretty successful 2024/25 campaign, Chelsea should go into the new season with plenty of optimism and excitement.
Chelsea secured fourth spot during last season’s Premier League to qualify for the Champions League. In addition, Enzo Maresca’s side followed that up by winning both the Conference League and Club World Cup, achieving their first pieces of silverware under the BlueCo ownership.
While the cup runs are important, the league form will always be the greatest indicator of the squad’s true quality.
In the Opta Supercomputer prediction for the 2025/26 Premier League, Chelsea end up in fourth position. The optimistic Blues fan may be looking up the division table hoping for a title charge, but there are some well-established rivals to compete with at the top.
The Premier League logo on the 2023/24 football.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Joe Cole and Owen Hargreaves disagree on where Chelsea will finish in the Premier League
Joe Cole and Owen Hargreaves, the former England internationals, have both made their full predictions via TNT Sports of how the Premier League table will finish in the upcoming 2025/26 season.
Cole has put former club Chelsea in third spot in his predictions. Meanwhile, Hargreaves tips the Blues to end up fourth in a repeat of last season.
Position Club
1 Liverpool
2 Manchester City
3 Chelsea
4 Arsenal
5 Newcastle United
6 Tottenham
7 Aston Villa
8 Brighton
9 Manchester United
10 Fulham
11 Nottingham Forest
12 Bournemouth
13 Everton
14 West Ham
15 Crystal Palace
16 Brentford
17 Burnley
18 Wolverhampton Wanderers
19 Leeds United
20 Sunderland
Joe Cole’s prediction for the 2025/26 Premier League
Joe Cole looks on during Manchester United FC v Aston Villa FC - Premier League
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Position Club
1 Liverpool
2 Arsenal
3 Manchester City
4 Chelsea
5 Newcastle United
6 Tottenham
7 Manchester United
8 Aston Villa
9 Brighton
10 Nottingham Forest
11 Fulham
12 Bournemouth
13 Crystal Palace
14 Wolverhampton Wanderers
15 Everton
16 West Ham
17 Brentford
18 Sunderland
19 Burnley
20 Leeds United
Owen Hargreaves’ prediction for the 2025/26 Premier League
Owen Hargreaves as a pundit for the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Enzo Maresca’s target at Chelsea
Apparently, Chelsea have asked Maresca to deliver another top-four finish during his second year in the manager’s dugout. Based on the current squad at Stamford Bridge, we’re confident that he can deliver that as a minimum.
The Blues snuck into fourth spot and secured Champions League football on the final day of last season, finishing strongly after a mid-season blip.
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Jeff Stelling has sent a warning to Maresca that Chelsea need to start quickly in the campaign or he’ll be under pressure. Even though the Italian head coach picked up two trophies in his first year with the club, the expectation is to deliver success year after year.
It feels like a sizeable gap for Chelsea to close on reigning champions Liverpool in the Premier League, but let’s wait and see if they can chuck themselves into a title race discussion.