Chelsea have high expectations around them after a superb summer, but nobody is quite sure where they will end up this year. Are they really title contenders?
As we saw last year, they can beat anyone on their day, but also have vulnerable periods in games and in the course of the season. Watching them is a bit like using your Qbet bonus code to bet on the slots or roulette – a game of chance.
The opening day summed it all up. The hype had built around Enzo Maresca’s team following a strong showing at the end of the season and through the Club World Cup, which they ended up winning.
High energy wins in our two friendly games against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan had many fans and pundits convinced that the Club World Cup hangover wasn’t going to be as bad as thought.
The new signings all looked great, Maresca was into his second year in charge, the injury situation was mostly good, it was a home game… it was all lined up for the Blues to make a mark on the new season.
But, football being football, it was a 0-0 draw. A particularly dull one at that. A reminder that the summer hype can only tell you so much, and that flashy new signings don’t always hit the ground running.
It was also a reminder of the quality of the Premier League. “Crystal Palace” doesn’t have the same cachet as a name Milan or Leverkusen, but they’re a really strong side with lots of good players and a really good manager.
That’s true of the majority of the Premier League – even the promoted teams look good this year. There will be very few easy games, and even fewer games which are easy to predict.
Chelsea finished 4th last year and will of course want to improve on that – but in a year where many of the top teams will be better than last year, that won’t be easy.
The challenge of playing in the Champions League rather than the Conference League will also change things majorly. No more resting eleven players in midweek. Some would say that finishing fourth with that added challenge would be a feat in itself.
It’s a really interesting campaign in prospect as Chelsea try to get back to the top. Consistency will be the key, and this team, for all its talent, is still very young: consistency over the course of the whole season may be just what they lack.