After another long, boring international break, the Premier League is back. Tottenham are playing West Ham at the London Stadium right now.
This weekend will see another exciting set of fixtures to help sort the good teams from the bad – so where do Chelsea lie? The stats would say they’re one of the best teams in the league – and certainly the most improved.
The Blues are 6 points better off than at the same stage last season, ahead of Bournemouth (5 better off) and Fulham and Brentford (3).
Biggest points difference in the Premier League compared to this stage of the season (7 games) in 2023/24:
◉ Chelsea (+6)
◎ Bournemouth (+5)
◎ Fulham (+3)
◎ Brentford (+3)Where will the Blues finish this season? 🤔
— Squawka (@Squawka) October 19, 2024
Of course, this is all conditioned by the fixtures: this year we’ve had Man City, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, West Ham, Brighton and Nottingham Forest.
Last year at this stage we had played Liverpool, West Ham, Luton, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Brighton.
So actually… Liverpool and Man City cancel out. West Ham, Forest Brighton and Bournemouth feature in both.
So it’s Wolves and Palace this year against Villa and Luton a year ago – not that different at all.
Of course the next month tells us a lot more, as we take on the heavy hitters starting with Liverpool tomorrow. But any idea that this 6 point boost is solely down to easy fixtures is just wrong.
Enzo aims to win two on the spin
Enzo Maresca will be delighted by the start in terms of results, and will also know that the real test of this team’s progress comes tomorrow, as well as in the subsequent tough games against Newcastle, Man U and Arsenal.
The coach was just awarded the September manager of the month award for his efforts leading the Blues – if he wins the October award too, we will have done something really special, and might well be top of the league.
Here’s hoping…
