It’s Monday, and Chelsea fans around the world are waking up with the memory of another win fresh in their mind.
Newcastle were our latest victims, turned over 2-0 in a game that could easily have seen Frank Lampard’s team score far more had their finishing been a little sharper in the first half.
Before the international break they had cruised to a win over Sheffield United, comfortably taken apart Rennes in the Champions League, battered Burnley and even flown to Russia for a big victory over Krasnodar.
Everything was looking about as bright as it has done at the club for some years, and there’s a strong sense that this side are only just starting to build momentum, given the immense potential in the squad.
This weekend’s game against Tottenham is a huge moment in the season, but however that turns out it will be hard to kill off the growing optimism surrounding the team.
Anyone keeping their eye on the title odds at 888 sports betting will have seen the Blues numbers dropping steadily win by win, as the world comes to terms with the fact that this is no fluke: this is a serious team putting up serious numbers.
Liverpool are the most obvious opposition right now, by some margin. They won easily against Leicester last night, and as it stands they’re on course to win a second consecutive title. Nobody looks ready to match them yet – Man City looks perhaps even a step behind where they were last season, and Chelsea and Spurs are still building towards being genuine contenders in the medium term.
The game between those two wannabes next weekend will tell us a lot about how far each of those sides could go this season, but neither can really establish themselves as true contenders, even with a win. The side that Jurgen Klopp has build has so much weight behind it now, and so much experience playing as a unit, that the works-in-progress at Stamford Bridge and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have to be considered one stage behind them, at the very least.
The objective really for Lampard and his side this season is to close the gap from the top we’ve seen yawning wide in the last few seasons. The Blues finished 30 points off 1st in 2018, 26 points off in 2019, and 33 off in 2020. Those are truly enormous distances at this level, and even slashing half of that gap would be an impressive feat in a single season.
But that’s what this team is on course to do this season, there’s no doubt about that. Liverpool’s defensive injuries should ensure they don’t reach the crazy final tally they have in the last few years, and Chelsea look so much defensively stronger this year that 80 points is by no means out of reach.
There will be plenty of pitfalls along the way of course – the minutes that some of Lampard’s first team are playing are reaching dangerous levels, and tomorrow night’s game in the Champions League will surely see some rotation as the manager looks to keep his team fresh for the Spurs game.
But given the Blues are currently on course to produce a 78 point final score after a strong Autumn spell, we can hope at the very least for a major improvement in our standing, if not an actual title challenge.
The last two seasons in particular have been draining battles for 4th place, with the team stumbling over the line in the end and looking like a side without much identity or coherence. That’s all changed now, and no matter where we go from this point, the optimism and momentum generated in these early stages are sure to stick around.
When Roman Abramovich opened his wallet in stunning fashion this summer there was major talk of the “pressure” on Frank Lampard to deliver now he has so many superior players at his disposal.
The pressure is there, there’s no doubting that. But so far those new signings have done just what was hoped of them in elevating Chelsea to a new level, and a good points total this season is the least we can expect.
The progress from the youth integration of last season to the star signings of this summer has been clear. The next step is winning trophies – and if we carry on playing like we have been in the last month, those days can’t be far away. Reaching a final last season was impressive enough, and we were a hamstring away from winning it too.
There are a crazy number of games still to play, and they will all count for a lot in their own way – but there’s no denying that the clash with Tottenham this weekend is going to have major effects psychologically in deciding how this next phase of the season – and perhaps Lampard’s spell in charge.
