Chelsea’s season, part 3 of 3: Best XI, horse races and lingering concerns

Title contender or little horse?

Scott: I just can’t see Leicester City, Manchester City or the Blues running down Liverpool. They are too good offensively and defensively. Liverpool would have to have some sort of injury crisis hit their team in order to drop enough points.

Varun: Jose Mourinho’s philosophical “little horse” is perhaps the most fitting way to describe Lampard’s Chelsea team at the moment. The manager and his players are bound to make mistakes and learn from them, and while they will be right up there next to Liverpool and Manchester City towards the end of the campaign, they are nowhere near the finished articles those teams are.

But the beauty of the little horse is that, although he is underrated, should he find some luck and perform at 120%, he can win the race. Blink and you might just miss him.

Gabe: Chelsea are definitely in the title race at the moment. Liverpool is notorious for slipping, Chelsea and Leicester have sustained their success and Manchester City is never out. While many are quick to award the Premier League trophy within the opening weeks, there are multiple clubs still fighting.

Nate: Little horses. But they’ve been pumped full of steroids so they’re overdeveloped for their young age. I mean this as a metaphor, not an accusation.

Olaoluwa: Yes. Chelsea have always been in the title race. Chelsea has lost fewer games this season than the defending champions. Manchester City’s opponents are finding it easier defending against them, and while this does not mean that they’re never going to put six or seven past their opponents, it means that those score-lines will be less frequent.

It also means that Manchester City will lose more games this season than they lost last season. Things are tough in a title race with Manchester City, but that is what is required now. oOnly those ready to go against Man City for the title can win the title. There is no reason the Premier League does not have a four-house race this season unless Lampard tells his boys that they cannot challenge the title this season.

Maurizio Sarri set a third place ceiling for Chelsea last season and that was what they got. At the time Manchester City lost to Leicester City last season, Chelsea were drawing their second game in a row. Had Chelsea won those games, they’d have gone ahead of City in the table. This is not to say that Chelsea would have won the league, but it shows that you don’t know what can happen during the season so don’t rule out anything.

Challenging for the title is not something the Chelsea board have to command – the players should know that while Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are a very good team, they are not unchallengeable. Being in the title race is a mental and personal decision.

Abhishek: Despite what the table says, this Chelsea side does not have enough players who have endured a title winning campaign against the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool. There is no doubt that Chelsea will finish in the top four, but as far as the title race is concerned they’ll be there or thereabouts, without actually threatening to win the whole thing.

Barrett: Seabiscuit.

Oliver: Chelsea are in the thick of the second title race, that is, the title race for all the teams that aren’t called Manchester City or Liverpool. The Blues have all the look of a team that is a believable top four contender but let’s not get to ahead of ourselves here: this season is still a rebuild of sorts for the club. They may finish close to City and Liverpool in terms of position, but Stamford Bridge is still a little horse stable… for now.