It’s been a good weekend for Chelsea. A 2-0 win over Burnley in Saturday’s early kick-off saw them move up to second, and Man City’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle later in the same day kept them there.
Enzo Maresca’s side are still some way of Arsenal, however, who have now gone six points clear with a comfortable 4-1 win over Tottenham at the Emirates in the first North London derby of the season on Sunday.
Still, stranger things have happened in football, and with Chelsea facing the league leaders in their next game, are they Premier League title contenders?
The best attacking side in the league?
Despite not sitting in second, Chelsea have gone relatively under the radar, mainly due to the fact there hasn’t been one real stand out performance. They were good in the 2-1 win over Liverpool, but a last-minute winner was fortunate.
Looking at the numbers, Maresca’s side may well be the best attacking side in the Premier League at the moment. Chelsea lead the way for xG at 22.5, shots on target per 90 at 5.6, and big chances created with 39.
Chelsea are also high-volume passers at a remarkably successful rate with 461.1 per 90 minutes at a success rate of 86.6%, just behind Pep Guardiola’s famously pass happy Man City at the top of charts.
Unlike City in particular, Chelsea aren’t reliant on a single member of the squad. Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, and Enzo Fernandez all have four league goals so far this season, with Moises Caicedo just behind them with three. They actually have the second highest number of players to have scored in the league this season with 11, one behind Brighton.
Maresca has his side playing well, and all of this is without arguably the best number ten in the Premier League, Cole Palmer, who will miss the game against Arsenal after somehow fracturing his toe while at home.
Not had the trickiest fixtures
One huge caveat to all of their good attacking numbers is the fact that Chelsea have had a relatively easy set of fixtures in their opening 12 Premier League games and should have probably done better.
Chelsea were lucky enough to face Graham Potter’s West Ham, Ange Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest, and Vitor Pereira’s Wolves, the worst three sides in the league, within a short period of time.
Even their win over Liverpool has been somewhat dampened by the fact that the current champions are losing to everyone at the minute, and it’s starting to look like they won’t even qualify for Europe never mind challenge for the title.
The 2-1 defeat to Sunderland at Stamford Bridge will be a real sticking point for fans. On paper, that’s a game Chelsea should be winning comfortably, but they do have a slight habit of dropping points in games they shouldn’t.
Are Arsenal just too good?
Well, it’s certainly their title to lose. Defensively, we’ve not seen anything like this Arsenal side since Jose Mourinho’s first spell in West London. Chelsea may be able to get over losing the title, but if Arsenal beat their 15 goals conceded record, that would be a major blow.
Chelsea only have one clean sheet less than Arsenal, but the similarities end there. Mikel Arteta’s side are almost impossible to break down at the moment, highlighted by the fact they average the lowest number of saves per 90 minutes with 1.4. Opposition attackers aren’t even getting shots away.
It would be fair to say that the likes of Liverpool and Man City not quite being at the races has played into Arsenal’s hand, but we shouldn’t take anything away from them. The Gunners are already looking like champions elect.
Verdict
Chelsea look good at the moment, but we were having this exact same conversation at this time last season, and they fell off over the festive period. Their young squad currently isn’t equipped to be winning a Premier League, but that should change in a couple of years.