Most punters are backing the frontrunners from Manchester but there’s every chance that Chelsea could win a second straight title. Let’s look at five reasons why the Champions should be feeling optimistic.
Not much has changed
The departure of John Terry has had little impact on the club’s plans. Matic has been replaced by Tiemoue Bakayoko, who doesn’t yet look like the complete midfielder but will prove his worth pretty soon.
In fact I would argue he is a better all-round footballer than the big Serbian. Costa’s position has been comfortably filled by Alvaro Morata (above), who seems to be the perfect fit for the Blues and is perhaps a little more purposeful and agile than his Spanish teammate.
The rest of the squad remains the same as last season with a couple of extra players in positions where Chelsea needed cover with the arrivals of Danny Drinkwater, Davide Zappacosta and Antonio Rudiger.
Antonio Conte
Most managers arrive in the Premier League and look uncomfortable with either the style of play or the pressure from the media. Conte looks at home on all counts.
In press conferences he plays around with interviewers as if he’s known them for a long time, almost like Sir Alex Ferguson. After losing 3-0 to Arsenal last season the Italian switched his formation to three at the back, which immediately worked out well.
Following the defeat to Manchester City in the last game before the international break , I’d be pretty wary of the Blues bouncing back as they did last year and mounting a proper title charge.
Low Expectations
Last season came as a bit of a surprise to most football fans as Chelsea stormed away with the title but with both Manchester clubs now being tipped by every pundit and fan, it seems there’s no pressure on the players at Stamford Bridge this campaign.
To some extent, the reigning champions have somehow become the dark horses in the title race and that could very easily play into their favour. The lack of pressure worked out perfectly last season and it could once again. While City and United squabble at the top, the London side could overtake them without ever being in the real spotlight.
The back three
A title-winning team normally includes a number of solid defenders who can pull the team over the line in the toughest games.
Chelsea has three of the best ball-playing defenders in the league in Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Gary Cahill along with a superb back up defender in Antonio Rudiger.
The back line is pretty much as strong as they come in the Premier League and with an Italian tactician overlooking things not many teams will find it easy to break down the Blues.
Dominance in small games
Chelsea picked up more points from the bottom five teams last season than any other team has managed in the past four seasons.
In short, the champions were ruthless against the smaller teams, which isn’t the first time a Conte side has been so prolific at the expense of lower league sides. During his time at Juventus he held a similar record, which has since been broken by Massimo Allegri’s side.
Although games against the top six are talked about so much and hyped up, the reality is that there are more smaller teams in the league and if you can win the great majority of those games, you give yourself a good chance to win the title. That is exactly what Chelsea did last season.
By Nubaid Haroon
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The post Football: 5 Reasons Why Chelsea Could Retain Title appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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