Champions elect?

Sport
SITTING pretty at the summit of the Premier League, I think it is fair to say that, for the moment at least, Chelsea are favourites for this seasons title.

SITTING pretty at the summit of the Premier League, I think it is fair to say that, for the moment at least, Chelsea are favourites for this seasons title.

Four points clear of second-placed Southampton and a hefty eight points clear of current holders Manchester City, Jose Mourinho’s side have done all the early running and only 11 games into this young season, are already starting to pull clear of the chasing pack.

At this stage last season, the Blues lay in fourth place on 21 points, four points off the top with a tally of 18 goals to their name. Fast forward a year, and a far more rosy set of figures accompanies Chelsea at the top.

The introduction of the likes of Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas has seen Chelsea race to 29 points, scoring 28 goals in the process.

Cesc Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas

That’s five more than anyone else in the league at this point and 10 more than they had at the same point last season.

The manner in which the Stamford Bridge side has won their games has been what has most impressed me. In their last fixture, a tricky trip to Anfield to play a spirited Liverpool side, Chelsea went behind early through an unfortunate deflected goal.

Instead of panicking, they dusted themselves off and raised their game, changing up through the gears and equalising in less than 10 minutes.

From this point on, they dominated the game and while chances were few and far between, due to good defensive performances from the home side, Chelsea always looked comfortable and on top, eventually taking the lead through Diego Costa and holding out for the rest of the game to take the three points.

Such a victory, where a team is able to grind out a difficult result in an even more difficult place, is the mark of a potential champion team.

The signings of Costa and Fabregas are undoubtedly the difference, with Costa scoring 10 goals in just nine appearances and Fabregas assisting nine in 11 while scoring one of his own.

Someone who is often and unfortunately overlooked by most, however, due to the fact that he hardly scores goals, is the work horse that is Nemanja Matic.

In my opinion Matic has been a colossus in the heart of the Blues midfield, protecting his back four with aplomb and breaking down opposition attacks more often than not.

The combination of these three, not to mention the likes of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Thibaut Courtois, to name a few, has lead to the development of a very assured looking side, who look comfortable with the style of play Mourinho asks them to play.

Undefeated and having only dropped four points thus far in the season, murmurs of a possible undefeated season have started to reverberate around English footballing circles.

While that is definitely a possibility, with the form that Chelsea have shown, a 38 game season is a long season and I would be very surprised if the Blues get through to May next year without a defeat against their name.

With plenty of time to spare in the season, the sides trailing Chelsea will be desperately and frantically searching for a way to stop the Blues, and pull themselves back into this title race. The biggest question that has to be asked, however, is: Can Mourinhos’ side be stopped? Only time will tell.

Twitter: @Thesonofapitch