1. They're still the team to beat
Well, after Manchester City. Obviously. Chelsea have won their last seven at home and are growing into the season, while Manchester United are increasingly struggling to replicate their early form. Only Pep Guardiola’s men have conceded fewer goals than the reigning champions and they remain a difficult team to beat.
Cesar Azpilicueta is a contender for Premier League Player of the Year. Keep him, N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard fit and second place is within the Blues’ grasp. “Manchester City have created a big gap between them and the rest, but we’ll keep putting pressure on them,” manager Antonio Conte said after Saturday’s 5-0 win against Stoke.
2. Hazardous waste
Even single-celled amoeba can see that Eden Hazard is Chelsea’s best player, but the world shouldn't revolve around the Belgian playmaker. Increasingly given a free role off Alvaro Morata in a 3-5-2 this season, Hazard has thrived. Yet in big games he has been well shackled.
Without his invention, the Blues have struggled to divide his ingenuity around the team. He might not like it, but a return to the left wing – with one of Pedro, Willian or even Cesc Fabregas as an interior on the opposite flank – would prevent serried opposition defences from crowding Hazard out. Against Stoke on Saturday, the return to 3-4-3 paid dividends, with Pedro and Willian both on the scoresheet.
3. Get the band back together
Danny Drinkwater and N’Golo Kante are a ready-made symbiotic midfield option for Conte. With Tiemoue Bakayoko struggling for consistency in his first Stamford Bridge season, Leicester’s title-winning pair dovetail brilliantly.
Whether with Fabregas ahead to provide the creativity in the 3-5-2 Conte has adopted for big games this season, or as a two in the 3-4-3 that won the league last term (with Hazard and Pedro or Willian wide), the Italian tactician should reunite the Foxes' band for more than the three league starts they've had in 2017/18. Drinkwater’s passing range is particularly underrated and brings more to the party than Bakayoko’s energy.
4. Problems on the right
Victor Moses is very athletic and will never stop trying. Davide Zappacosta has more end product, as he showed with a fine first Premier League goal against Stoke, but is adapting to a new league.
Neither, however, strike fear into opposition in the same way that even Marcos Alonso does from left-wing-back. To truly challenge Manchester City and overtake United into second, Conte must find a way to get more from his right-hand side.
5. Learn to kill teams off
Chelsea must score more goals. When the Blues register early, as they did two minutes into their 5-0 demolition of Stoke, they have the attacking arsenal to steamroller teams. Not every opponent will be as insipid as the Potters, but avoiding a repeat of the goalless draw at Everton or defeat at West Ham is a priority.
Get the early goal, ram home the advantage and kill off games by half-time, and dropped points will soon become a thing of the past. On such consistency was last season’s title victory made, and Conte knows it. “We’re scoring less, but we’re also conceding less,” he said last week. Upping the goal output is a key aim. That begins on Wednesday night against Arsenal.
