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Do Chelsea have what it takes to win a trophy this season?
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Do Chelsea have what it takes to win a trophy this season?

04/08/24 14:06

The four trophies that Chelsea are fighting for

There are two weeks until Chelsea host Manchester City on the opening weekend of the 2024/25 Premier League season and their pre-season so far has been less than spectacular. In the last two weeks, they have played four games and only managed a single victory, against Club America. These games have included a draw against Wrexham and a defeat to Celtic. Friendly games are not really a good indication for how the season will go, but let's have a look at the different competitions that the Blues will take part in and see how likely they are to win it.

Premier League

Somehow, Chelsea managed to pull back what was looking like a very disappointing season last year in the final few gameweeks. They ended up finishing sixth, ahead of Newcastle and Manchester United and that would have seen them qualify for the Europa League had United not won the FA Cup and qualified in their place.

This year it looks as if Manchester City and Arsenal will once again be challenging for the title, but there are so many unknowns coming into the season that it is hard to predict. Enzo Maresca has been a coach under Pep Guardiola’s leadership and so he could emerge to be similar to Mikel Arteta and lead a London club to rival his old mentor, but that could take a few years. We also don’t yet know how well Liverpool will do under Arne Slot, who took over from Jurgen Klopp this summer.

I think this year is too early for the Blues to really make a challenge for the title, but there is definitely a Champions League spot or two that is up for grabs. With the number of uncertainties in the league next season, I could see Chelsea and Maresca taking that opportunity.

FA Cup

Despite a pretty poor season last time out, Chelsea managed to make it to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost against Manchester City. In recent history, the club has been strong in the FA Cup. In the last eight seasons, they have only failed to reach the final four on two occasions, and in those times, they lost to Manchester City and Manchester United.

Many will remember the 2014/15 season when they were knocked out by Bradford City, but they haven’t made a habit of getting knocked out by lower league opposition, or even Premier League teams outside of the so called “Big Six”.

They certainly have a chance to win the FA Cup this season as long as they manage to stay away from Manchester City, who are their bogey team in that competition. Since 2010, no side has beaten them in the FA Cup more (four times).

EFL Cup

Again, like the FA Cup, Chelsea managed to do well in the EFL Cup last season despite their league performances. They reached the final where they lost against Liverpool in extra-time and the famous “billion-pound bottle jobs” line was delivered by Gary Neville.

Their recent form in the competition hasn’t been as impressive as their FA Cup results, as they manage to draw against the “Big Six” a lot more in the early stages of the EFL Cup. In the six years since the 2018/19 season, they have managed three finals and three early exits, no in-between.

This year will also depend on the draw, but for some reason I don’t see them doing well in this competition. It probably has something to do with the fact that this competition is Manchester City and Liverpool’s playground and that in their entire history Chelsea have only won it once more than Tottenham. That’s when you know that it is not your competition.

UEFA Conference League

The 2024/25 season will see Chelsea enter the UEFA Conference League for the first time. This new competition is supposed to be for the smaller European teams to compete for a trophy rather than see themselves get torn apart in the bigger European Competitions. It’s nice that UEFA were looking out for Spurs when they made this competition, even though they were still torn apart in the group stage in 2021/22.

Fiorentina and Real Betis are the two real competitors for Chelsea in the competition, but the qualifying hasn’t even finished for it yet, so we could see Copenhagen, Basaksehir and Gent all make it to the main competition.

In all seriousness, this is Chelsea’s to lose. The quality that they have all over the pitch should be too much for every team in this competition, and if they were to get knocked out before the final, then it would be a severe disappointment.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Jake Martin

Lead Writer

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