Chelsea Football Club begin their 2025/26 Premier League campaign tomorrow at Stamford Bridge against Crystal Palace. With that, It’s time for the obligitory season predictions, but this time, I am not alone.
On board with me in this article will be over 20 well known Chelsea social media influencers, plus the legendary Paul Canoville, who kindly agreed to share his thoughts on behalf of the Paul Canoville Foundation.
The predictions will follow this format :
Chelsea League Prediction (position and points)
Do Chelsea win a domestic cup?
Chelsea Champions League Prediction:
Chelsea Underrated player of the year :
Chelsea Young player of the year :
Chelsea Player of the year :
For the last few months, life as a Chelsea fan has been great. Fluid Football, a strong team morale, a manager that everyone likes and most importantly, results and trophies to back it all up.
It is for those above reasons, plus the continued evolution of head coach Enzo Maresca in both a tactic and player development sense, that I am upbeat and optmistic for the season ahead.
Chelsea league prediction (position and points) : 3rd, 73 points. Manchester City’s midfield and defence will let them down, while Chelsea’s attack and midfield will soften the defensive worries.
From the time of writing, the club are not pursuing a centre back or goalkeeper. If they add these additions and they are top calibre, I expect Chelsea to challenge for the title, and be favourites for second at the very least.
Do Chelsea win a Domestic Cup? : Yes, the Carabao Cup. It is time to break the Wembley curse and our squad depth plus the experience of lifting two trophies will help towards this achievement.
Chelsea Champions League Prediction: Semi Finals, I believe knockout format suits this squad and we will have a really good crack at it, especially with the Stamford Bridge crowd behind the team.
Chelsea Underrated Player of the Year : Tosin. I believe he is going to have a big role this season with Levi Colwill being out and he was already perhaps going under the radar anyway. Tosin is a leader in the dressing room and has been a solid signing on the pitch, too.
Chelsea Young Player of the Year : Estevao Willian, it has to be, right? If Estevao hits even a quarter of his potential this season, then he will be a fan favourite, and the faviourite for this award.
Chelsea Player of the year : Cole Palmer, although this is the toughest category, as I do believe Moises Caicedo could very well retain his throne.
This award is voted by the fans at the end of the season and that factor, coupled with my belief that Palmer may well get 15+ league assists and 10+ goals, gives him the edge over Moises.
As mentioned at the start of this article, Paul Canoville kindly agreed to put forward his predictions for the upcoming season.
Paul is widely known for being Chelsea’s first ever black player, and does fantastic work for The Paul Canoville foundation, which was founded in 2015 by himself, and aims to support tens of thousands of children and young people each year, all through the lens of his inspirational story of resilience and determination.
Chelsea league prediction (position and points) : 3rd position – 81 points. We will be in and around the title conversation for a good portion of the season but unfortunately I think nearer the end of the season we’ll fall off due to fatigue.
I also worry about our CB’s and GK on the surface of things but what’s to say Sanchez doesn’t keep up his excellent form and players like Acheampong and Hato don’t step up this season?
We got 69 points last year even after that disastrous December-March run so hope we can avoid that this year and improve our tally and league position.
Do Chelsea win a domestic cup? : Yes – Carabao Cup. I genuinely think we’ll win the Carabao Cup this season for 2 reasons. Firstly, the depth we have is fantastic so we won’t have problems using a heavily rotated side until the semi’s and final.
Secondly, the final is usually in late February/early March so this is before I expect our squad to run out of steam after playing a longer 24/25 season than everyone else. I’m desperate to win domestic silverware and believe this is the year.
Chelsea UCL Prediction: Semi Finals. Unlike Jamie Carragher, I see us getting to the knockout stages. We know on our day we can beat the best teams in the world but I think we’ll come up just short with the amount of big games I expect us to play this season. I back us to make it to the semi finals but think we could run out of steam at the end of the season.
Chelsea Underrated Player of the Year : I think Andrey Santos is going to be a vital part of our squad this year and be hugely useful and versatile. With Lavia injured again and constantly struggling for fitness, Santos will get big minutes this year and crucially, can fill in at the 6, 8 and 10 positions.
Last year we used Enzo and Caicedo like a bar of soap and I’m so glad we have players like Santos and Essugo who can fill in to a top standard and ease the burden.
Chelsea Young Player of the Year : It feels like 99% of our squad could qualify for this award but I think Estevao will win YPOTY. I feel like a lot of people who watch the Premier League don’t quite know the level of talent we’ve got in the 18 year old, but I can see him really taking it to big Premier League and Champions League sides and announcing himself on the big stage.
Chelsea Player of the Year : I’m sure many will say this but it’s impossible not to say Cole Palmer here for me. I just think with the calibre of attackers he has around him, clubs now can’t double up on him like they could at times last year and he’s bound to add a lot more G/A to his already staggering Chelsea tally. I predict over 40 goal involvements in all competitions.
Do Chelsea win a Domestic Cup? : Yes, not sure on which one, depends on the draws.
Chelsea League Prediction (position and points) : 4th, 74 points. (Colwill injury hurts us, Champions league over Conference will mean less rotations and less rest after the Club World Cup)
Chelsea Underrated Player of the Year: Tosin, if we don’t sign another centre back, otherwise I could see Malo Gusto having a much better season.
Chelsea Young Player of the Year: Alejandro Garnacho, if he signs. He will most likely play so many games he’ll force himself into winning it and I don’t think Estevao is physically ready to handle Premier League games yet.
Chelsea Underrated Player of the Year : Pedro Neto, I feel he will achieve better output this season now we have strikers who attack the box better.
Chelsea League Prediction (position and points): 3rd – I think we still fall short in some key areas. Points: 74 – Another improvement but I think other teams around us will improve too. Last year was a low points tally compared to other years.
Do Chelsea win a Domestic Cup? Not sure… As an FA Cup purist I really want to see us win it again. It has been a long time and I think we have the squad depth and quality to compete on multiple fronts.
For me the Carabao is more just to give minutes to fringe players so not so fussed about that provided we don’t have an absolute shocker. Remember last year the eventual winners knocked us out!
Chelsea UCL Prediction: With the new format, first priority is avoid the extra playoff round as you do get some horrible potential draws and having extra rest is never bad.
Considering how well we can play in one-off or two-leg games, I don’t think any team in Europe will be that keen to play us again. I think we can do very well, I’d be disappointed if we don’t make at least the Semi Final.
Underrated Player of the Year: A slightly left field pick but I’m going to say Reece James. I think people have forgotten quite how good he is at full fitness.
Chelsea have managed him well at the Club World Cup and are now ready to hopefully reap the rewards. His leadership has also grown tenfold in a year which is huge for a young squad.
Young Player of the Year: Most people will go for Estêvão and I think he’ll do brilliantly. But in the interest of a different argument, I have been super impressed by Dario Essugo.
Essugo basically tackles like Caicedo and moves like Essien. If we can get a hybrid of the two of them, imagine how much we’ll be laughing?
Player of the Year: Again, you’d expect it to be a toss up beween Palmer and Caicedo. So going to curveball everyone and say Marc Cucurella.
He scored important goals last year, was immense at the Club World Cup and has had the greatest Chelsea renaissance I can remember since Victor Moses returned from two loan spells to become the Nigerian Cafu under Conte. I also love the fact he can get under the skin of opponents.
Chelsea league prediction (position and points): I predict that Chelsea will come third or fourth with 75 points. We have improved from last season, but I am tempering my expectations for the team given the immense physical strain of winning the Club World Cup in the summer, and the subsequently increased possibility of injuries and load management issues this season.
Do Chelsea win a Domestic Cup?: No. While I would love to see us end our Wembley hoodoo, I don’t think that domestic cups will be massively prioritised this season given the load management issues mentioned above. Any advance to the latter stages would be a massive bonus for me.
Enzo Maresca has shown that he can outmanoeuvre the best teams in Europe and I expect to see a run to the Quarter Finals or Semi Finals.
Chelsea Underrated Player of the Year: Tosin Adarabioyo. I think he will raise his level substantially this season playing at central centre-back in Levi Colwill’s absence.
We have already seen his on-field leadership and consistency as a squad player, and I think he is going to get better playing most games this season.
Chelsea Young Player of the Year: Josh Acheampong. Enzo Maresca is a big fan, and I think he will get more opportunities to establish himself into a consistent squad player this season, especially if Chelsea don’t buy another defender in the final stages of the transfer window.
Chelsea Player of the Year: Moises Caicedo. He is a truly incredible, one-of-a-kind midfielder and I think he will get even better playing consistently in Europe in a similar vein to N’golo Kante during the 2020/21 season. He is going to establish himself as one of the best midfielders in Europe this season.
Chelsea league prediction (position and points): I think Chelsea end up 3rd, on 77 points. I expect a strong start to the season, but the wheels will fall off once the games start piling in up the second half of the season. But, still a good season.
Do Chelsea win a Domestic Cup?: Yes. I think Maresca will make an effort to win one of the domestic cups this year, but it will largely depend on the draw.
Chelsea UCL Prediction: RO16 Exit. I think Chelsea do very well in the group stages, but I have a feeling we get an unlucky draw and exit the competition early.
Chelsea Underrated Player of the Year: Liam Delap. I think a lot of fans are in love with Joao Pedro, and rightly so, but I expect Delap to have a great season for Chelsea. He will be terrific off the bench, and I expect him to grab a few late goals for Cheslea.
Chelsea Young Player of the Year: Josh Acheampong. I think he plays a bigger role this year with Colwill’s injury. Tremendous talent that will only get better.
Chelsea Player of the Year: Cole Palmer. I think he is going to have an amazing season again, and will drag Chelsea to a trophy.
It is fair to say everyone is optimistic and excited for the new season. Not one contributer had Chelsea outside the top four, righftul expectation or un-needed pressure for Maresca?
The most popular shout for Young Player of the Year was Estevao Willian, while the majority back Cole Palmer to regain the Player of the Year throne.
Perhaps the most exciting thing is with the transfer market still open, a top level addition at Centre back or Goalkeeper could make Chelsea legitimate title contenders, or at the very least consolodate the top four position without worries.
Whatever happens this season, it is sure to be another season with many twists and turns and likely drama. After all, it wouldn’t be Chelsea Football Club if there wasn’t.