Can Chelsea Maintain Their Form and Win the EPL?
The thirtieth season of the English Premier League kicked off on the 13th of August and it will last until the 22nd of May 2022 when we will know this season’s winner.
This is also the third season in which the VAR (video assistant referee) is in use despite many controversies that came with its launch. The defending champion is Manchester City that with eighty-six points collected during the 2020/2021 season claimed the title.
With seventy-four points, Manchester United was second-placed followed by Liverpool with sixty-nine points, Chelsea with sixty-seven points, Leicester City with sixty-six points, West Ham United with sixty-five points, Tottenham Hotspur with sixty-two, and Arsenal with sixty-one points.
The English Premier League Season 2021/2020
The most successful teams from the last season competing in the 2021/2020 season on top of three teams that were promoted from the EFL Championship including Watford, Norwich City, and Brentford that competes in the Premier League for the first time since its establishment.
These three teams replaced West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United, and Fulham. Several managerial changes took place at the beginning of this season.
Patrick Vieira replaced Roy Hodgson as Crystal Palace manager while Bruno Lage replaced Nuno Santo in the position of Wolverhampton Wanderers manager.
Everton also appointed a new manager Rafael Benitez who replaced Carlo Ancelotti while Antonio Conte was appointed as a new manager of the Tottenham Hotspur team.
Dean Smith is the new manager of Norwich City while Steven Gerrard joined Aston Villa. Eddie Howe was signed by Newcastle United in November.
Chelsea New Players
Currently, with twenty-six points Chelsea is the first-placed team followed by Manchester City and West Ham with twenty-three points, Liverpool with twenty-two points, Arsenal with twenty points, and Manchester United and Brighton with seventeen points.
Ahead of the new season, Chelsea signed a new center forward Romelu Lukaku who left Inter. Central midfielder Saúl Ñíguez was loaned from Atletico Madrid while center back Fikayo Tomori returned from AC Milan where he was on a loan.
Ahead of the new season, defensive midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko returned to the club from Napoli as his loan period ended while Billy Gilmour returned from Norwich.
Other players who returned to Chelsea include Malang Sarr, Kenedy, Davide Zappacosta, and Victor Moses. Center back Trevoh Chalobah joined Chelsea from the second-tier Chelsea U23.
Tammy Abraham left the team to join Roma while Kurt Zouma was signed by West Ham for a fee of €35 million. Fikayo Tomori and Tiemoué Bakayoko play this season in Italy with Milan.
Ethan Ampadu was loaned to Venezia while Emerson joined Olympique Lyon as a loan as well. Kenedy joined Flamengo while Michy Batshuayi signed a loan agreement with Besiktas. Billy Gilmour joined Norwich on a loan and Davide Zappacosta was signed by Serie A Atalanta for a free of €9 million.
Can Chelsea Claim the EPL Title This Season?
Most betting sites favor Manchester City for winning this season’s English Premier Title, but Chelsea is right there at the top. As previously mentioned, the team is first placed ahead of other favorites including Manchester City.
At the moment, Chelsea has a perfect balance of youth and experience in Romelu Lukaku. The team’s midfield pivot also seems to be in amazing form. N’ Golo Kante and Jorginho also entered the new season in excellent form.
Chelsea has one of the best midfielders in the league, Kante. Under Thomas Tuchel, Kante has also significantly improved his passing. Kante and Jorginho perfectly complement each other.
Kai Havertz and Timo Werner are more than ready to step up their game. Even though Havertz was disappointed by his debut matches for Chelsea, he scored that winning goal for his team against Manchester City. All things considered, Chelsea can definitely win the EPL title.