Is Chelsea a Real Contender for the Premier League Title?
The question, which was barely being asked at the beginning of the month, could have an answer on Sunday night. And the answer could be a resounding “yes”.
Following an investment of nearly £1.5 billion in new players since the acquisition by Todd Boehly and Clearlake in May 2022, a title challenge from Chelsea is almost inevitable. It should be the natural result of such a generous investment in the squad. But, did anyone really believe that Enzo Maresca’s young team, whether or not they win the FIFA Club World Cup, was ready to take on Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City this season?
If Chelsea beat Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, their title credentials will no longer be in doubt.
Despite Arsenal’s dominant season so far, with Mikel Arteta’s team leading the table in both the Premier League and the Champions League group stage, the Gunners’ six-point lead could be halved this weekend if they lose to Chelsea. City, who are in third place, could also gain ground if they defeat Leeds United at the Etihad on Saturday.
The City will remain a threat, although their own inconsistencies this season threaten to derail Pep Guardiola’s team. As long as Erling Haaland stays in shape and with a prolific goalscoring form, City is capable of fighting for a fifth title in six seasons. Arteta and his players know from bitter experience that Guardiola’s men have a history of late-season comebacks.
Chelsea is an unknown quantity under Maresca, although they showed they are capable of defying the odds and beating the best when they defeated Paris Saint-Germain, winners of the UEFA Champions League, in the Club World Cup final. They are unpredictable and inconsistent, full of young stars with supreme talent but without experience, like Estêvão and Alejandro Garnacho, and they are on a roll, which makes them a dangerous proposition for Arsenal on Sunday.
Arsenal is formidable and strong, a team whose lack of style and spontaneity is more than compensated for by its ability to capitalize on set pieces with goals from free kicks and corners. But they do not possess the freedom and the X factor that has propelled Chelsea to the fight for the title. The Blues are everything Arsenal is not, both in the positive and the negative, so Sunday is a clash of styles and philosophies, and the result will tell us where the title is headed.
After losing 2-1 at home to Sunderland on October 25, Chelsea fell to eighth place in the Premier League. It was their third defeat in nine league games, and the deficiencies that have plagued Chelsea since the 2022 acquisition (too many changes, too much youth, not enough experience) contributed to their inconsistent start to the season.
But that defeat to Sunderland now seems like a stumble in a more impressive run of only one defeat in 11 matches in all competitions, a sequence of matches played without the injured Cole Palmer, in which Chelsea scored 27 goals and recorded six clean sheets. It’s a run that also includes victories against Liverpool and Barcelona.
The initial concerns this season about Chelsea’s defense and goalkeeper have dissipated, the midfield axis of Moisés Caicedo and Enzo Fernández is now consistently performing as one of the best in Europe, while Pedro Neto has also been a key player in midfield, and the 18-year-old sensation Estêvão is suggesting he could become another teenage star on the world stage. Aside from the lack of experience in winning titles in a team whose oldest players are goalkeeper Robert Sánchez and defender Tosin Adarabioyo (both 28 years old), the reasons for not backing Chelsea to maintain a title challenge are fading.
An obvious area that needs improvement is the number of goals Chelsea gets from Maresca’s forwards, with center forward João Pedro tied with Fernández and Neto with four goals as the team’s top scorer in the league. It’s rare for any team to win a title without a forward scoring 20 goals in a season, and no one at Chelsea is close to reaching that target at this stage.
But the other side of the coin is that goals are being scored from all departments, and Chelsea’s total of 23 goals in the Premier League so far this season is only surpassed by Arsenal and City (both with 24). And defensively, only Arsenal (six goals conceded) and City (10) have better defensive records than Chelsea (11) to date, so Maresca’s team enters the match against Arsenal as a true title contender for Arteta’s team.
However, Sunday is about more than just the final result. The result will define the mindset of both teams for the rest of the title race. If Arsenal wins, they will move nine points ahead of Chelsea and make a real statement of intent. But a Chelsea victory would open up the title race wide and instill in Maresca’s young team the belief and confidence that they can go all the way, while injecting doubt and fear into the Arsenal ranks.
If Chelsea wins again on Sunday, they will be the real protagonists and it will be up to Arsenal to keep their composure.
