Over the past years, fans of the English Premier League have gotten used to seeing the same names at the top of the table for most of the season and especially at its conclusion.
The so-called “Big Six”, made up of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have been the dominating force in the EPL for a very long time. Therefore last season came as a big surprise when out of the six, only three made it into the top four Champions League spots: Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal.
Chelsea’s fall from grace has been the worst out of the lot, with last year The Blues not even managing to make the Europa League or Europa Conference League, finishing at a lowly 12th place.
With the 2023-2024 season underway, the big question is can Mauricio Pochettino’s side reverse their fortunes and bounce back by clinching a top 4 spot?
The Current Premier League Landscape
To understand Chelsea’s prospects, it’s crucial to take a closer look at the current Premier League landscape. As of now, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur have set the pace at the top. Furthermore, according to Opta, the sports analytics company, it is precisely those teams, in that particular order, that have the highest odds of finishing in the top 4, with Chelsea only at 10th place in the odds rankings.
That being said, a few experts, including Gary Neville, have claimed that Chelsea can still finish at the top, with Neville believing that chances for this will be quite high if the team manages to go on a winning streak. The pundit has recently stated that their young and talented squad simply needs to find its rhythm and if it does a lot could change in the favor of The Blues.
Reasons For Chelsea’s Slump
The Blues’ unexpected downturn since last season has been the subject of much discussion and speculation among experts and fans alike. This slump has seen Chelsea struggle to secure wins against teams they might have dominated in previous seasons.
Critics have pointed to various factors, from injuries to constant changes in the squad and even managerial decisions, as potential reasons for their dip in performance.
State Of Affairs At Stamford Bridge
However, one thing no one can blame Chelsea for is not attempting to make changes for the new season. Besides a new coach in Mauricio Pochettino, a vast amount of new signings and a major clearing out of players happened during the 2023 summer transfer window. Let’s take a closer look at who arrived and who left.
New signings:
- Axel Disasi
- Moises Caicedo
- Nicolas Jackson
- Romeo Lavia
- Alex Matos
- Diego Moreira
- Christopher Nkunku
- Kendry Paez
- Dujuan Richards
- Ishe Samuels-Smith
- Robert Sanchez
- Lesley Ugochukwu
Departures:
- Ethan Ampadu
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
- Cesar Azpilicueta
- Baba Rahman
- Tiemoue Bakayoko
- Ben Elliott
- Kai Havertz
- N’Golo Kante
- Kalidou Koulibaly
- Mateo Kovacic
- Ruben Loftus-Cheek
- Edouard Mendy
- Mason Mount
- Christian Pulisic
- Dujon Sterling
- Joao Felix
- Denis Zakaria
Even though it is obvious that Chelsea spent a lot of money during the summer, somehow they still seem to be having the same problems as before. Frankly speaking, winning just 15 points from their opening 11 games is not a good sign that they will have a successful season going forward. Something needs to change, otherwise The Blues will continue to hover around the 10th spot, which in the eyes of many is going to be nothing short of a major failure.
A Glimmer Of Hope
A reason to continue to hope for the best came on November 6, when Chelsea won an important away match against cross city rivals Tottenham, with a score of 1-4. Notwithstanding that the Hotspurs received two red cards, this is still an important achievement and has somewhat reinvigorated the odds in Chelsea’s favor, with some bookmakers placing their odds at finishing in the top four at 15% now.
Since the season just started, this is still very much a fluid prediction, but for those that feel confident in their ability to see the future, betting on the Premier League top 4 outcome is a super straightforward and simple to understand betting scenario. On the other hand, if you feel that perhaps it is still too early to do so or in case you like placing wagers on outcomes that are soon to happen, then you may want to check out MightyTips, who provide all kinds of betting tips free of charge, including for football outcomes on the next day.
The Race for a Champions League Spot
Chelsea has been going through major changes in the past few years, including the departure of their long time owner, Roman Abramovich and a revolving door of myriad coaches that spent too little time at Stamford Bridge to really build something lasting.
At the current moment pundits are not giving the club very high chances to finish in the top 4 of the EPL by season’s end, but one of the true beauties of the English top flight of football has been its higher levels of unpredictability in comparison to other leagues around Europe.
As a result, one might even say that all bets are off on how a typical season ends in the Premier League, but paradoxically it is precisely this factor which makes it the best league for punters, where all bets are actually on.
