There’s some common characteristics that champions at the elite level.
An abundance of quality, obviously, as well as the determination to perform to the highest standards across a long, arduous season. In that regard, squad depth is also a great help.
A dollop of luck is helpful, too, as Chelsea found out in their December win over Tottenham. They were thoroughly outperformed by Spurs in terms of open play xG, but still ended up on the right side of the 4-3 victory.
It’s the sort of result that can propel a team to the title…
The Results Business
Whatever the nature of Chelsea’s win over Tottenham, it cut the gap to Liverpool at the top of the table to four points.
The Premier League winner odds suggest the bookmakers still need convincing, with the Blues a 13/2 underdog behind Liverpool (4/6) and Arsenal (9/4).
The Premier League top 4 odds at least suggest Enzo Maresca will guide Chelsea back into the Champions League, with the London outfit as short as 2/13 to finish inside the ringfenced quartet of places.
They are, at the time of writing, the most potent attacking force in the EPL, both in terms of goals scored and xG created. But the Premier League Expected Goals data also suggests that they have been rather fortunate to have only conceded 18 goals this term, which confirms the notion that Chelsea can be easy to play through and around.
61 goals scored so far under Enzo. 📈#CFC | #TOTCHE pic.twitter.com/wRzCy3Qqve
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 8, 2024
Tottenham certainly did a good job of exposing those frailties in their December 8 clash, romping into a 2-0 lead after just eleven minutes.
By the end of the game, Spurs had racked up a mammoth 2.90 of open play xG… normally, that would be well and truly enough to win the majority of Premier League games.
But the Blues, with 2.83 xG of their own (albeit with two penalties in there), were resilient and battled to get back into the game, which is a quality that league champions have in spades.
However, will their defensive vulnerability prove costly in the end?
Doing It the Hard Way
Chelsea is a fascinating save for FM25 when it is released, testing your managerial abilities in keeping a large squad of players happy in their playing time.
The game is, naturally, skewed in favour of Manchester City during the early seasons of your save… Sports Interactive hadn’t predicted the downfall of Pep Guardiola’s men (and, to be fair, who could blame them).
A frank assessment from Pep Guardiola.
Read his words in full following Man City’s draw with Crystal Palace ➡️ https://t.co/YMU0bIjCBj pic.twitter.com/nihddUIA2i
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 7, 2024
But clubs like the Blues have high expectations, despite the need to balance the books from an FFP perspective, so you’ll need to bolt out of the gate with some big results… or face the axe come Christmas.
So will you be able to replicate the hot start of Maresca?
