Chelsea Showed Why They Are Title Contenders

It may be just five games into the new Premier League season but Chelsea are already making a statement on their title chances this season as Tuchel's side are still unbeaten and performing a commanding 3-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. Thomas Tuchel made a number of changes from midweek with the big surprise being Kepa Arrizabalaga coming in on goal for Edouard Mendy while Spurs brought back Son Heung-Min who was not available last week. Chelsea and Spurs were neck and neck in the first 45 minutes as the Lillywhites took six shots with Son's effort in the 33rd minute the only one to test Kepa. N'golo Kante came on in the second half for Mason Mount and Chelsea took it up a gear. They scored three without reply as Thiago Silva, Kante and Antonio Rudiger scored to give a big win for the Blues. Despite the early promise in the first half, Spurs were very passive as their PPDA (Passes Per Defensive Action) was at 14.9, giving Chelsea the initiative to bombard the Spurs defense which they did. Kante's runs from deep and the utilization of set-pieces was too much for Nuno's side as Chelsea are showing that they mean business this season.

Since Abramovich brought Chelsea in 2003, the Blues have never gone up to five years without winning a league title. The highest is four years which has happen twice. First between 2006 and 2010 where their lowest position between those years was 3rd in 2009. They are currently on a four year drought since winning the title under Antonio Conte in 2017 and have rarely made a strong title challenge since then from the meltdown under Conte's final season in 2018, the Sarri experiment not going to plan in 2019 and Lampard integrating a group of young players after Chelsea experienced a transfer ban for 18 months but was removed late last year when results started to falter. Now under Thomas Tuchel, the Blues have one of the best managers around who has now come out of the shadows of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, beating Guardiola three times last season including the Champions League and has so far not lost to Klopp since becoming Chelsea boss. A demanding manager, Tuchel will not leave anything to chance and will change anything if it necessary. That was seen from Chelsea 1-1 draw against Liverpool as they held Klopp's team at bay despite going down to ten men.

The addition of Romelu Lukaku has added an attacking threat that really flattered last season. They scored 58 goals, the third lowest in the top ten with an expected goals of 64, the third highest, with their top league being Jorginho with only seven. All from the penalty spot. Lukaku scored 24 and assisted 11 in 36 Serie A games last season and his return will heavily compliment Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, much of the same way he did with Lautaro Martinez. A deep rounded squad that achieved success already with the Champions League and an astute tactician who demands the best from his players, Chelsea are title contenders and with Manchester City coming next week, it will be another test in their title aspirations.