Antonio Conte led Chelsea to another Premier League title in his first season in England, but it will be harder than ever for the Blues to retain their crown. They proved in the first game of the title defence that it won’t be plain sailing as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Burnley, and finished the game with nine men. Conte’s men were three goals behind at half-time, and despite a late rally, they couldn’t fully reduce the deficit.
Even though it’s only one game into the new campaign, the warning signs could not be clearer for the Chelsea fans, and they could quite easily run into much bigger issues this season especially against the fellow big boys. Here are three of the main problems they are facing at this early stage.
1 Rivals strengthening
With all of the title rivals spending big money and investing in world class players, Chelsea are falling further behind. They have also lost two key members of the title-winning side as Nemanja Matic made the unlikely switch to Manchester United while Diego Costa is imminently departing.
Chelsea have brought in Tiemoué Bakayoko and Morata to replace the pair, many experts see these signings as significant downgrades, especially as Bakayoko is a player who is yet to reach his full potential.
Resting purely on the fact that they can win the league with a similar team as last season, which is potentially worse, could turn out disastrous for Chelsea and may even see them miss out on the top four. They need to make a few more signings before the window slams shut in two weeks time and they need to make them fast. Whether it’s backup players of superstar first-teamers, they need more strength-in-depth with a very busy season ahead.
