Why Chelsea Are in the Premier League Title Race | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca insists his team are not title challengers and that they have to remain realistic, but Chelsea fans dare to dream as they fasten their seatbelts and prepare to take part in the Premier League title race.

In the latest slate of weekend Premier League games, leading Liverpool dropped points, title hopeful Arsenal dropped points and reigning champions, Manchester City, dropped points. Meanwhile, Chelsea won their fifth straight league game to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 games, not losing in the league since a trip to Anfield nearly two months ago.

"We've got our Chelsea back," chants have been heard coming from Blues fans both at Stamford Bridge and other stadiums in England in recent weeks. After two years of disarray and mediocrity, Maresca's Blues are within two points of Liverpool—who have a game in hand—four clear of Arsenal in third and seven ahead of City in fifth, the teams the Italian manager insists are still better than Chelsea in the Premier League.

Four out of Chelsea's next six league games are against teams in the bottom half of the table. In a hectic period of the Premier League season, Chelsea have favorable matchups to continue their strong form into 2025.

Maresca might not like it, but right now, Chelsea are in the title race.

Chelsea's Squad Depth is Providing Incredible Value

Chelsea's squad construction was loudly mocked by fans and pundits alike in recent years. The amount of players brought in via transfers since the Todd Bohely-Clearlake Capital ownership group took over in May 2022 had many ridiculing Chelsea. Not anymore, as the method to the madness is becoming visible to all.

Maresca has made it a habit to rotate over 90 percent of the squad in Premier League matches and midweek UEFA Conference League and Carabao Cup fixtures. Players are rarely asked to play two games a week and there are two big benefits to that.

One, according to BBC, prior to the Dec. 15 game vs. Brentford, Chelsea had just eight player injuries this season, the third least in England's top flight. Not overtaxing players helps maintain their fitness in a busy schedule. Second, rotating the squad allows players that don't get a lot of Premier League minutes to stay sharp. Christopher Nkunku, Chelsea's top scorer this season in all competitions, has seen the bulk of his minutes in the Conference League, same as João Félix.

Chelsea have quality options for Maresca to field a lineup specific to a game plan for any given opponent. This young and exciting squad continues to grow and build chemistry together. As time goes by, where other teams in England might suffer from the heavy toll of the season, Chelsea could continue to get better, as players remain fresh and keep up perfecting the style of play Maresca is already succeeding at implementing.

Chelsea's Attack is Currently the Best in the Premier League

The Blues have scored the most goals so far in the Premier League with 37 through 16 games. Cole Palmer (11) and Nicolas Jackson (9) have the most goals between a pair of teammates in the league so far.

Chelsea have six more goals than Liverpool, eight more than Arsenal and nine more than City. The more than favorable matchups in the Conference League skew the numbers; however, Chelsea have 71 goals through 26 games in all competitions, already besting the 50 goal tally the team achieved in the entire 2022-23 season, the first full season with the new ownership group.

The team was heavily reliant on Cole Palmer's output for much of last season, and although Palmer continues to be the focal point, players around him have taken a step forward. Jackson and Noni Madueke have 20 goal involvements between them in the league. Enzo Fernández has turned around his Chelsea career and has seven G+A in his last six Premier League appearances. Summer signings, Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto, are also becoming key contributors to an all of a sudden elite front line.

Yes, Chelsea still look vulnerable defensively, but the team's attacking quality could spearhead a title charge with the variations at their disposal.

Chelsea Have the Most Points in the Premier League Since Mid-March

Yes, this is an arbitrary date, but ever since the March 11 victory against Newcastle, Chelsea have the best record in the Premier League.

In the 28 games since, Chelsea have a record of 18 wins, seven draws and only three losses—which came against Arsenal, City and Liverpool. That's 61 points, compared to Arsenal and City's 55 and Liverpool's 54 in that same time frame.

Chelsea's strong Premier League form isn't a recent development, it's been going on for more than two thirds of a season worth of games. Back in the summer, there were mixed opinions about the dismissal of former manager, Mauricio Pochettino, given how strong Chelsea ended the 2023-24 season. Five straight wins resulted in a sixth place finish only missing out on the Europa League due to Manchester United's FA Cup victory.

A strong level of consistency is needed to win the Premier League and Chelsea have managed to find it for the past nine months while flying under the radar.

It's true that Chelsea aren't even close to being title favorites and rightly so, this was never meant to be a year for the Blues to challenge for the league since this is a project that's still in its infancy. However, for a number of reasons and whether Maresca likes it or not, almost halfway through the season, Chelsea must buckle up because they're now undisputedly part of the title race.