Chelsea have played three games in the league and two more in the League Cup. So far, the Blues have looked very impressive under new manager Xabi Alonso. But a defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates was a good way of puncturing any premature talk of a title challenge.
So with a month of the season already gone, what are the Blues realistic aims this season? What can we expect from them? Put on a bet at a bookmaker or casino and you’ll see that the title is pretty much considered Arsenal’s to win. They have a 53% chance of winning it by implied offs, while second chased Man City are given just 26%.
That’s quite the dip. Then you get to Chelsea in third, with 11%. It’s not a big number, but to be considered the third best team in the league is a sign of significant progress, especially considering where they were at the end of last season. Liverpool and Man U are both afterthoughts to round out the top five.
Finishing in the top 5 – likely to get us back into the Champions League, we have a 90% chance. That’s the kind of stat that will have our owners and our sporting directors very relieved indeed. This season without European football is a financial disaster – but we must make the most of it as a springboard back into the Champions League. Playing Conference League football this year would have seriously harmed Xabi Alonso’s ability to develop the team, while not bringing any significant reward in terms of money coming in.
It’s also allowed us to operate with a slimmed down squad. It remains to be seen how that will work out, and our title odds are surely going to be swung by the health of Moises Caicedo if there’s a major announcement one way or the other. Without him Alonso’s options are pretty limited. With him, we look to have one of the best starting teams in the country.
Our next 5 games are all winnable. If we come out of them and we’re still scoring goals, but have also tightened up at the back, we’ll be looking very strong indeed. Title talk may be premature, but challenging in the league and for both domestic cups isn’t beyond this group if they continue to head in the right direction week by week.
