Chelsea still on course for positive season as Liam Rosenior takes the wheel

When new managers come into a football club in January, it’s usually to try to avoid relegation or salvage anything positive from the campaign.

However, Liam Rosenior has joined a Chelsea side who can still enjoy an extremely positive season if he can hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge following his move from Strasbourg.

Blues in the thick of the top four battle

While the Blues stuttered towards the end of 2025, which contributed to the departure of Enzo Maresca from the club, Chelsea will still have strong hopes they can secure a top-four finish this season. The West London outfit, who are 15/8 with online football bets to finish in the top four this season, know what it takes to get over the line in a battle to reach the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea, who are 4/6 in Premier League bets to finish in the top five, battled with Nottingham Forest last season for a place in the Champions League and came out on top against the Tricky Trees. With Rosenior taking the wheel at Stamford Bridge, he joins a club that can secure a return to Europe’s elite competition if they can find some consistency over the coming months.

While the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa appear to be on course to finish in the top three, that fourth spot certainly looks to be up for grabs. Liverpool and Manchester United look to be Chelsea’s main rivals for that fourth place, but neither North-West outfit have managed to produce the consistency needed to bridge a gap to fifth. Chelsea will be hoping a new-manager bounce with Rosenior at the helm can spur them on to the form that can secure that valuable top-four finish, which would certainly be a feather in the cap for the new Blues boss.

Silverware still on the cards

While a push for the Premier League crown might be a stretch for Rosenior’s Chelsea, the team still have a great chance to add to the club’s long list of honours this season. Progressing to the EFL Cup semi-finals, Chelsea have an opportunity to make a return to Wembley, while the Blues should also have the strength in depth to compete at the business end of the FA Cup this term.

Maresca also laid the foundations for Chelsea to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League, with the Blues competing for a top-eight finish in the competition’s league phase. Having already earned a 3-0 win over the mighty Barcelona in the Champions League this season, Chelsea have shown what they can do against serious title contenders in this season’s tournament. If the players can quickly adapt to Rosenior’s philosophy, then it bodes well for what can be achieved by the Blues in Europe this term.

It has been an unsettled spell for Chelsea but, with a battle for a top-four finish and with the club competing for domestic and European honours, this could be a thrilling and successful start to Rosenior’s tenure at Stamford Bridge.