Chelsea are just a few days away from opening their Premier League season under Frank Lampard. Here are our writers’ predictions for the club, some ex’s and a few others around the league.
Chelsea are in four competitions, have three ex-managers competing in Serie A and loanees scattered around England and Europe. How will things shake out for the extended Chelsea family? Who will surprise and who will induce regret? Who will take all the blame and what words will you tire of hearing? Read on…
1. What will be the Premier League top four?
Scott Brant: Manchester City, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea.
Sourav Mahanty: Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea.
Travis Tyler: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs.
Kevin Peacock: Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal.
George Perry: Chelsea (delusional, yes, but a three-peat for City or a title for Liverpool are too odious to contemplate), Tottenham (Chelsea are at their best when Spurs keep the pressure on!), Manchester City, Arsenal.
Abhishek Pancholi: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United. Frank Lampard will guide Chelsea into the top four at the first time of asking. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s Manchester United will also manage to qualify for the Champions League, thanks to Arsenal’s inability to defend and Spurs’ ability to bottle it right at the death.
Barrett Rouen: Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea.
Karan Saini: Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea. Manchester City to win the Premier League again, with Liverpool missing out… again. Spurs will be impressive but, in classic fashion, Spurs will be trophy less. Chelsea, without any new signings and losing Eden Hazard, should be able to sneak in the top four.
Olaoluwa Nwobodo: Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham. Liverpool outplayed City in the Community City, so they get the nod this time around.
Nate Hofmann: Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, (huge points gap…) Chelsea!
Gabe Henderson: Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs.
2. Which Chelsea player will surprise the most?
Kevin: N’Golo Kante. People will be amazed to see that Kante is actually quite good as a defensive midfielder. Well, I never.
Olaoluwa: People kept talking about misunderstood players last season, but most of them did not know who it was. It wasn’t Jorginho. It was Mateo Kovacic. Kovacic was scapegoated last season because his Italian colleague was exonerated – celebrated, even – for not scoring or assisting, Kovacic was shoehorned into a role not meant for him. Now that he’ll play in a position more suited to his skillset, we’ll see just what he is made of.
Travis: Tammy Abraham will, eventually, show that his Championship scoring can translate over to the Premier League when surrounded by Premier League-level players. He will hit a stride and start to pull ahead of Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi in the striker conversation.
Abhishek: Jorginho. The Italian midfielder will emerge from the second-hand smoke and show that he is capable of more than just cleaning ashtrays and passing the ball to his nearest teammate.
Scott: Ross Barkley. He will be fully fit and healthy, plus playing with an added freedom under Frank Lampard while wearing the No. 8.
Sourav: Mateo Kovacic. He has looked class in the pivot role during preseason.
Nate: Willian has at least 10 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League, justifying his No. 10 shirt.
Barrett: Tammy Abraham. He’s a goal scorer, will be excellent and will show that Chelsea should not have been trying to buy No. 9’s all this time.
Gabe: After a series of disappointing seasons, Ross Barkley will thrive under Frank Lampard.
3. Which academy grad will save Chelsea the most money by becoming a best XI regular
Scott: Mason Mount. He is going to turn some heads around football. There is a lot of things to be excited about, and Mount is towards the top of that list.
Sourav: Callum Hudson-Odoi. Chelsea would have had to spend a lot to replace Hazard.
Travis: Chelsea being Chelsea, the club will surely go for a striker no matter how well Tammy Abraham does. Long term, Fikayo Tomori saves Chelsea from having to buy a new centerback as he replaces David Luiz.
Kevin: Tammy Abraham. The club definitely do need to buy a striker but cannot. This is Tambraham’s chance to go all the way, he’ll surely grab it with Lampard and Jody Morris pushing him.
Abhishek: Tammy Abraham. It takes a lot of courage to wear the No. 9 at Chelsea and this kid has that in spades. After a shaky start Abraham will grow into the shirt, scoring 15+ goals in the Premier League.
Barrett: Abraham or Mount.
Karan: Abraham should save Chelsea a fortune if he excels in the role the Blues have been trying to fill since Diego Costa left.
4. Who will we regret Chelsea loaning or selling?
Barrett: Ethan Ampadu because he’s the best centerback in the side, but for some reason they ignore this and make a whole bunch of other excuses as to why he can’t play there or why others should instead. He’s already better than Luiz, Christensen, Zouma and Tomori. Happy he got a good loan rather than being wasted, but he was, is and always will be good enough to be at the heart of Chelsea’s side.
Travis: Daishawn Redan will be the biggest selling regret and Ethan Ampadu the biggest loaning regret. In a year where the strikers are covered in question marks, Redan could have been a surprise dark horse. Ampadu will go into RB Leipzig and look like an amazing player. He will develop well but there will be many moments where Chelsea fans will wish he was in Blue this season.
Scott: Eden Hazard, at least until the Blues get to spend some of that money or Christian Pulisic takes over Stamford Bridge with his exciting play.
Gabe: Ola Aina, who will have a fantastic career when it’s all said and done.
Abhishek: Callum Hudson-Odoi, when he is inevitably sold to Bayern Munich on deadline day after his latest excuse for not signing the contract – Mercury in retrograde – proves to be the last straw.
Sourav: Eden Hazard, of course, not that there was much to be done about it.
George: Fikayo Tomori or Ethan Ampadu, because David Luiz.
Nate: Bakay… lol, jk. Daishawn Redan looks like the second coming at Hertha Berlin.
Kevin: Danny Drinkwater’s departure will see the subs much reduced in the Ex-Chelsea Player’s Benevolent Fund, as fundraising activities drop following Secretary Drinkwater’s banishment.
Olaoluwa: Tiemoue Bakayoko. It’s a long season and Chelsea could use every player they have, especially midfielders. Taking into account workload, injuries and rotation, Bakayoko would come in handy in games where Lampard needs to rest players.
5. How will the three ex-Blues manager in Serie A fare?
George: Antonio Conte will win Serie A because that’s just what he does. Carlo Ancelotti still needs another season to undo the damage Maurizio Sarri left at Napoli (he only just got the smell of cigarettes out of the upholstery this summer) before he can properly challenge for the title, and will finish third. Sarri will be gone by Christmas, enough time for Juventus to recover a creditable fourth-place finish under Louis van Gaal.
Scott: Inter Milan will win Serie A because I love Antonio Conte. Napoli will finish second because I respect and appreciate Carlo Ancelotti. Juventus will finish 20th because I despise Maurizio Sarri and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Barrett: Sarri will win because Juventus did such good business this summer, no one else can compete with them. Inter Milan will finish second because Antonio Conte is the best manager I’ve ever seen and, despite their weird amount of issues, he’ll get the most out of them. Finally Napoli will finish third and Carlo Ancelotti will continue to enjoy his Amalfi Coast retirement.
Travis: Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan and Maurizio Sarri’s Juventus go neck and neck into the spring before Inter pulls ahead to win the title. Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli to play the spoiler but they settle for a close third place.
Sourav: Sarri – 1st, Conte – 2nd, Ancelotti – 3rd.
Abhishek: Antonio Conte will guide Inter to their first title in a decade while Carlo Ancelotti will finish a creditable second. Maurizio Sarri will find himself out of a job by December, when Cristiano Ronaldo tells him where to shove his cigarettes in the aftermath of a 4-0 loss to Sampdoria.
Nate: Sarri / Juventus – 1st; Conte / Inter – 2nd; Ancelotti / Napoli- 3rd. Bonus: All three leave / are fired by the end of the season.
Olaoluwa: I’m going to be dead wrong, but this might just prove that having a good squad does not guarantee success. First through third, in order: Antonio Conte’s Inter, Sarri’s Juventus, Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli.
Karan: Maurizio Sarri and Juventus have Cristiano Ronaldo leading the attack and Matthijs de Ligt and Giorgio Chiellini in defense. Juventus should win the league as Sarri’s predictable tactics and formations bear fruit for a league title. Antonio Conte has tons of Serie A experience both as a player and manager, and his great defensive tactics will land Inter in third. Napoli will hunt the title with Konstantinos Manolas joining Kalidou Koulibaly on defence.
Kevin: Antonio Conte to win Serie A. Having enjoyed a season off at Chelsea’s expense he’ll be well prepared to take Inter all the way. Carlo Ancelotti will do enough with Napoli to keep his job, but not enough to win anything. Sarri won’t finish in Serie A. He’ll be fired long before the season’s end.
6. Which Premier League teams will be relegated?
Scott: Brighton, Norwich City, Sheffield United.
Travis: Newcastle, Sheffield United, Norwich.
Nate: Sheffield United (by a long shot), Brighton (should’ve gone down last year), Crystal Palace (not Glad All Over at all)
Sourav: Brighton, Sheffield United and Newcastle.
Gabe: Brighton, Sheffield United, Newcastle. Brighton should’ve gone down last year, Sheffield aren’t flashy and don’t seem prepared and Newcastle is a train wreck.
Kevin: The three B’s will go down this season: Burnley, Bournemouth and Brighton.
Barrett: Newcastle, Newcastle and then Newcastle. Shame on them. What an unbelievably excellent fanbase they are and they deserve so much more.
Karan: Newcastle, Sheffield United and Norwich. With Rafael Benitiez gone and no Salomon Rondon, the Magpies will find it tough to stay in the league. Premier League standards will prove to be too big of a step up for Sheffield United and Norwich.
Olaoluwa: Norwich, Sheffield United, Brighton.
Abhishek: Brighton, Sheffield United and Burnley.
7. Who will be the first Premier League manager sacked?
Abhishek: Dean Smith. Aston Villa will receive the shock of a lifetime when they realize that the Premier League is even tougher now than it was when they were relegated. Smith will be handed his P45 around Christmas, with Villa stuck at the bottom of the table. John Terry will take over as interim manager and guide the Villains to the safety of 17th place.
Sourav: Steve Bruce of Newcastle.
Gabe: Let’s go out on a limb and say Sean Dyche.
Scott: Chris Wilder will be sacked by Christmas for never leaving last place.
Karan: No Premier League manager will be sacked. Yes, kind of a hot take but the newly promoted teams like Norwich and Sheffield would probably not sack their managers even though they’ll be fighting for survival. Newcastle, Brighton and Southampton have new managers and I don’t see them delivering such an early sack.
Olaoluwa: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Because why not?
Travis: Steve Bruce would be the obvious answer, but that would require some level of caring by Mike Ashley. Marco Silva will be first out if he cannot bring together all the new signings and improve on last season’s general morose.
Kevin: Eddie Howe. A combination of being at the club too long and lack of motivation will cause the Cherries to have a downturn in form. Howe will feel he’s done all he can but won’t quit. Being in the bottom three towards the end of the year will see him fired.
Barrett: Steve Bruce.
8. Who will be Chelsea’s most potent goal + assist combo?
Scott: Christian Pulisic to Michy Batshuayi. I was tempted by Ross Barkley to Batshuayi, but I think Barkley will be doing more scoring than assisting.
Abhishek: “Pulisic to Abraham, and it’s a goal!” Or, for the remaining cultists, “Jorginho to Kovacic to Barkley to Pulisic to Abraham, and it’s a goal! Jorginho rules, ya hear that, yer das?”
Karan: Christian Pulisic to Tammy Abraham will be the exciting combination.
Kevin: When he’s fit again, Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be the supplier of many, many goals for Tambraham.
Gabe: Ross Barkley to Mason Mount and vice versa. When those two are on the pitch together, it’s magical.
Travis: Ross Barkley will keep seeing Christian Pulisic’s runs in behind and he will keep picking them out as they connect at least five times this season.
Sourav: Ross Barkley to Christian Pulisic has looked like a partnership where both could flourish.
Barrett: Pulisic to Abraham or Mount to Abraham.
Olaoluwa: Tempted to say Mason Mount to anybody, but Barkley to Pulisic.
9. Who will be the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong this season?
Olaoluwa: Seeing as Marcos Alonso may not be starting, Willian. Willian will be the scapegoat, unless Alonso starts.
George: The transfer ban.
Scott: Maurizio Sarri. Undoing everything he did will take forever.
Sourav: The strikers, because I don’t see too many goals coming this season.
Barrett: David Luiz, because he will be the reason everything goes wrong this season.
Nate: Preseason G.O.A.T. Ross Barkley becomes regular season (scape)goat Ross Barkley.
Kevin: Maurizio Sarri, just because it will be, but I won’t be mentioning it.
Karan: Jorginho will be blamed for not living up to expectations even though Maurizio Sarri is gone.
Travis: The SarriIn’s will blame everything on the “impatient yer da’s.” The SarriOuts will blame Marina Granovskaia or Jorginho somehow. The normal people will know there is not anyone to blame and this season is what it is because of the ban.
Abhishek: Marcos Alonso. Who else?
10. What will be the most overused buzzword of 2019/20?
Abhishek: I suggest the phrase “Sarri laid the foundation” to be muted proactively on Twitter before the season begins.
Travis: “High line.” Chelsea’s defense is playing less of an active role in pressing this season, but without N’Golo Kante that has left a gap between midfield and defense where blame slides in quite nicely.
Karan: As Chelsea under Frank Lampard find their stride, “Lampsball” will be the unfortunate new thing.
Kevin: “Tambraham,” because he’s going to have such a good season. Although, in reality, the soon-to-be most overused word probably hasn’t been created yet. It could be “hyfcovsoxv.”
Sourav: “GTFOH David,” as David Luiz repeatedly blindly misses a simple cross from the opposition full-back.
Barrett: Work rate.
Gabe: Pressing high, triangular-passes or exploited defense.
Scott: “Legend.” It will precede every headline, introduction, etc… “Legend Frank Lampard off to flying start” or “Legend Lampard struggles through first month.”
Nate: “Club Legend.”
11. Who will be the most surprising ex-player hired onto the staff?
Scott: Didier Drogba, to turn Michy Batshuyai and Tammy Abraham into beasts like himself. Olivier Giroud can’t be counted on due to the amount of time he spends on his hair and practicing the impossible during training.
Travis: Roberto Di Matteo to come out from the wilderness, still perfectly hairless somehow, to become Chelsea’s in-house motivational speaker.
George: Hernan Crespo, because I think is name is just fun to say.
Kevin: Andriy Schevchenko to come in as Head of Player Recruitment.
Abhishek: Ashley Cole, conducting running drills for the youth, air rifle in one hand, whistle in the other.
Barrett: Eidur Gudjohnsen.
Nate: Fernando Torres as strikers’ coach.
12. Where will Chelsea finish in all competitions?
Scott: Premier League – 4th, Champions League – Round of 16, FA Cup – 5th round, EFL Cup – Final.
Sourav: Premier League – 4th, Champions League – Round of 16, FA Cup and EFL Cup – Semifinals.
Kevin: Premier League – 2nd, Champions League – Round of 16, FA Cup – Quarterfinals, League Cup – Final.
Travis: Premier League – 3rd, Champions League – Round of 16, FA Cup – 5th round, EFL Cup- Quarterfinals.
George: Premier League – 4th (realistically, despite what you saw above), Champions League – Quarterfinals, FA Cup or EFL Cup – Win one of them
Abhishek: Premier League – 3rd, Champions League – Quarterfinals, FA Cup – Winners, EFL Cup – Semifinals
Karan: Premier League – 4th, Champions League – Quarterfinals, FA Cup – Winners, EFL Cup: Semifinals.
Olaoluwa: Premier League – 2nd, Champions League – Quarterfinals, FA Cup – Final, EFL Cup: Winners.