Chelsea sit in second place, just six points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal and they host the Gunners on Sunday, but few are really talking about the Blues as title contenders.
Are we sleeping on Chelsea?
The 2-0 win at Burnley on Saturday was their third-straight shutout victory in the Premier League and they’ve won five of their last six in the league.
MORE — Cole Palmer available to start vs Arsenal
They then followed that up with a massive 3-0 win at home on Tuesday against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League ahead of the monumental clash against red-hot Arsenal at home on Sunday. We are about to find out if this young Chelsea side can hang in the title race and if they can get over the next hurdle in their development: remaining consistent.
I asked Moises Caicedo about Chelsea being in the title race after their thrilling late win against Liverpool last month, and the Blues’ player of the season so far was trying to stay calm.
“It’s too early to say,” Caicedo explained. “For sure we want to win the Premier League but we’re all step-by-step because it’s Premier League and is tough but we want to do our best in this Premier League this season… The Premier League is so difficult, you need to be consistent so we show our quality. We show our character on the pitch and for sure we want to continue with this momentum.”
Chelsea are ‘absolutely’ in PL title race
Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Earle, and Tim Howard react to Chelsea closing the gap on Arsenal at the top of the table following a 2-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor.
Last season Chelsea sat two points behind leaders Liverpool (who had a game in-hand) on December 15 but then stumbled over the festive period and new year as they eventually recovered to finish in the top four. This season it feels different. They’ve learned from that experience. They can keep this momentum going.
We already know Chelsea have an extremely deep squad after a huge amount of spending in recent years on young, talented players and that has helped them massively during a really unlucky run with injuries with superstar Cole Palmer out for a while now, plus constant changes in midfield and defense as injuries and suspensions piled up in recent months.
But they’ve kept winning because manager Enzo Maresca has created a tactical flexibility about this Chelsea side. Yes, they love to keep the ball and players have the freedom to drift across the pitch, but they can also be lethal on the counter and have become really tough to break down as improvements have been made in defense.
This Chelsea side are flexible and durable and they are learning by the game. They are still full of confidence from their Club World Cup success in the summer and even though the odd bump in the road has appeared along the way this season — a draw at Qarabag in the Champions League and defeats at home to Brighton and Sunderland — their ceiling is extremely high and they’ve shown they are learning and improving.
Once Palmer returns and the players coming in and out of the team gain full fitness, this Chelsea side are a scary proposition. Their squad is deeper than any other team in the Premier League and if they can keep finding new ways to win games as they develop as a group, they’ll hang in this title race all season long.
The win against Barcelona taught us a lot about the levels this Chelsea side can now reach, and the game against Arsenal this weekend going to teach us an awful lot more about how good they can become.
“When you beat big teams it’s so important for us, to have confidence,” Caicedo explained.
This Chelsea side is already feeling confident this season after beating big teams, and this Sunday is going to be intriguing. If they can upset Arsenal, then there’s a run of games between now and early 2026 which could well see Chelsea overtake their London rivals at the Premier League’s summit.
Pretty soon most people will be talking about Chelsea being in the title race. Just watch.
