With Chelsea’s recent form, it appears that the West London club is back out front, and fighting for the Premier League title this season.
After three wins and only one loss in the first Premier League games of the 2024/25 season, Chelsea sits fifth on the table. The season has only just started, but their recent form suggests that they could be serious contenders in the Premier League title fight.
This Time Last Season
This time last season, there was not much promise coming from Chelsea.
During pre-season, prior to the 2023/24 season, Chelsea impressed. Mauricio Pochettino’s tactics in pre-season worked well for the Blues who saw no losses in that campaign. However, when the Premier League season began, he abandoned the style of play that would have favoured them.
In their first six Premier League games, Chelsea won only one game – against Luton Town – and lost two games – to West Ham and Nottingham Forest.
During preseason, Pochettino used his preferred setup, but when the Premier League season began, he switched to a 3-4-2-1 which did not work out well for the Blues. In the first three games, with the 3-4-2-1 formation, Chelsea did not look as strong as they did in preseason and only managed one win.
The fourth game of their season was an EFL Cup game. Pochettino switched back to a 4-2-3-1, and Chelsea won the game. However, in the following game – again a Premier League game – he chose the 3-4-2-1 formation again and lost to Nottingham Forest.
With Pochettino’s uncertainty, Chelsea really had no identity as the season began and progressed. It was only towards the end of the season that the Argentine reverted to his preferred setup and Chelsea picked up form, managing a top six finish after spending most of the season shuffling between 10th and 12th.
Mareseca’s Time to Shine
As mentioned earlier, Chelsea has won three of their first six Premier League games of the 2024/25 season, with only one loss. Thus, Maresca has had a great start.
In all competitions, Chelsea has won five of eight games, with 19 goals scored. Clearly, their goal-scoring issue is no longer an issue. As of matchday 6, only Manchester City has scored more goals (13) than Chelsea has (11) in the Premier League.
Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke have joined Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson in Chelsea’s hattrick squad. The former was the star against Barrow in the EFL Carabao Cup game, whilst the latter made his mark against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 6-2 Premier League win.
New signings are also making their mark.
Positive Change
There is a sense of identity in Enzo Marseca’s Chelsea. Inverting Marc Cucurella (LB) into the midfield and having Malo Gusto (RB) play up high, almost in line with the number 10 are among things that have worked out great for the Blues so far.
A clear improvement in comparison to last season’s Chelsea is a strong starting lineup paired with strong in-game management. This has been especially notable when Maresca makes changes to his starting lineups. When it is obvious something isn’t working, Maresca has eliminated that problem for the next game.
Chelsea has, in the past few seasons, also had the habit of ‘parking the bus’ whenever they get the lead. This is something that has apparently been left in the past. This has also been clear in the way substitutions only strengthen Chelsea’s squad, regardless of the scoreline.
All in all, Chelsea is finally proving to everyone that their ‘project’ has been worth the wait. Should they continue with this form, a top 4 finish will be likely, and perhaps even a title charge.