I’m in two minds about this whole title talk. Chelsea ARE factually in a title race. Because when you look at the league table, at the time of writing [Sunday morning], Chelsea are second in the league and just five points behind Liverpool. We can reduce that to just one tonight if we beat Brentford.
But in reality, it’s different. We can still see some vulnerabilities, mainly at the back. And there are going to be many tough games and banana skins coming up. It’s still going to be very up and down, and there is a long way to go. We have to expect that.
However, when you look at how the teams around Chelsea are doing right now on current form, I ask the simple question, is there ever going to be a better opportunity to challenge for a Premier League title than this season? And I’m not just asking that to Chelsea, I’m asking that to any club in or around the top 6-8 right now, because it’s so tight up there.
Even Liverpool are not exactly being invisible right now and are more than beatable. Arsenal are in some struggling form, and we can all see what is happening at Manchester City. These three were supposed to be clear title challengers pulling away from everyone else, but they’re not, so this is a huge opportunity. We can certainly make the most of that.
It’s a really tough situation though, because none of us want to get carried away and we see the realities, but at the same time I don’t know if we will see this craziness again and how open this league is at the top right now.
Liverpool drew with Fulham yesterday, and Arsenal were held by Everton. These are massive chances now for Chelsea to advance. The ball is very much in our court, and it is up to us what we do with it.
Remember when the club kept pointing at Arsenal as an example of our project needing time? Well, they are now in decline….
Arsenal’s Premier League points tally after 16 games across the last three seasons:
2022/23: 43 points
2023/24: 39 points
2024/25: 30 points
Chelsea’s time to shine? The league is almost begging for a club to step up and take the reigns. It’s literally there for the taking.
Maybe this has come a season too soon for Chelsea, but the facts are there. I hate having to write these kind of articles on match day before a game is played, because I have no idea how today’s game is going to go. Brentford are a bit of a bogey team for us, but how we fair tonight could really elevate us to everyone genuinely calling us real title challengers, or we could be humbled ever so slightly too.
Either way, what an opportunity for teams to maximise off the demise of other clubs. Although having said that, I’m never going to write off a Pep Guardiola managed club mind, let alone Manchester City. And I also expect Arsenal to improve again too.