This time last year the Stamford Bridge club started a run which led to the title and their upcoming fixtures offer them the chance to start anotherMost of the Premier League attention will be on Anfield and the north-west derby this weekend, even if Liverpool’s stuttering start to the season means Jürgen Klopp’s side already have seven points to make up on Manchester United. For different reasons that will probably suit Crystal Palace and Chelsea, who meet at Selhurst Park in one of the lesser London derbies.Roy Hodgson said his struggling Palace side were like a boxer on the ropes after their last outing at Old Trafford, trying to fight in a class above their weight and taking too many...
Once a position for the energetic and combative, Manchester City showed it has become one for those who can exploit the space in front of them to shape a gameThis is what the Premier League has been waiting for since Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City. There had been hints of it before, most notably in the first half of the derby at Old Trafford last season, but City’s performance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was the first time a Guardiola side in England has so thoroughly dominated another member of the elite from start to finish. All the familiar tropes were there – the domination of possession, the rapid transitions, the tenacity at winning the ball back; all that...
In their last league game, Antonio Conte’s side missed how the forward would have driven Arsenal to distraction and the 28-year-old will depart Stamford Bridge having more than played his part in the successesThere is an irony that Diego Costa’s tortuous departure from Chelsea should be finalised, pending the results of a stringent medical, just after a fixture when his absence had been so keenly felt.Not the Champions League stroll beyond Qarabag or even the midweek saunter past Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup. But, last Sunday, Arsenal ventured across the capital and earned a point with Shkodran Mustafi, in most people’s eyes, emerging from the stalemate as man of the match. Even accepting that the centre-half is a Germany...
Coach wanted more players added to his squad while doubts persist over whether the new signings were first-choice targetsIt may take a while for a proper sense of perspective to set in but, once the spreadsheet was filled and the columns totalled up, only Manchester City had spent more money than Chelsea in the Premier League this summer. The champions’ outlay stretched beyond the £180m mark, albeit with a hefty chunk recouped through sales and with Diego Costa potentially still to be jettisoned to Atlético Madrid. Antonio Conte had wanted a wave of reinforcement across his squad, a policy that was always going to require heavy expenditure. He made that clear even before the title was claimed in the spring....
Chelsea’s manager picked Tiémoué Bakayoko despite fitness doubts and put David Luiz in midfield and it all paid off to get their season up and runningThe reaction at the final whistle told its own story. Antonio Conte, fists pumping and that same frenzied look in his eye that marked the latter stages of their successful title pursuit last season, was at the heart of the throng of visiting players gathered in the corner of this arena to celebrate in front of a raucous away support. After a summer of painful politics and festering frustrations, this served emphatically as a lancing of the tension, and a reminder of the calibre of champions. Chelsea, defiant and still with time to add to...