At the start of week in which they host Barcelona and Arsenal, a trip to Burnley was a chore Chelsea just had to tick off. Doing so comprehensively may offer more conclusive evidence of their title credentials than the more glamour ties to come.
For 12 months, it has been one of the most-asked questions around the Premier League: ‘Are Chelsea title contenders?’ It usually prompts much sighing and sucking of teeth before the most common response: ‘Not yet’.
A young squad and a lack of discipline are quite reasonably pinpointed as reasons why the Blues might struggle to push the teams viewed as real contenders: Arsenal, of course, and Manchester City.
But are we all sleeping on Chelsea? Can we legitimately accuse them of the same failings that were used – rightly – a year ago to rule them out of the last title race?
Yes, Chelsea have a young squad, but that has been true for the last two seasons. These are no rookies. And the uncharacteristic patience they have shown with Enzo Maresca means the Italian is presiding over a squad that, for the most part, has grown together.
Maresca is also due more credit than he receives. His maiden season at Stamford Bridge was as chaotic as we have come to expect from Chelsea. This season, though, after their Club World Cup success, there is certainly a more settled look about the Blues in how they play, despite persistent interruptions.
And while learning on the job, their record under Maresca is more impressive than many might realise.
THE PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE SINCE MARESCA TOOK OVER AT CHELSEA
All of which leads us to Burnley, where Chelsea moved to second, within three points of Arsenal and ahead of City before tricky assignments for both.
There were banana skins all over Burnley for the Blues too. But Maresca’s side, after easing back into domestic action following the international break, sidestepped each one with far greater success than Cole Palmer dodged the doorframe in the middle of night this week.
Palmer’s clumsiness meant that Chelsea had to make do yet again without their most creative influence. The England star has not played 90 minutes since the opening weekend of the season and not a single minute in the last two months.
Yet while keeping pace with Arsenal and City, the Blues have created more big chances than any other side while attempting the most shots on target. Palmer’s composure added to an already creative but often frantic frontline will make the Blues an even greater threat.
Palmer is not the only absence Maresca has had to cope with. Only City and Tottenham have had more injuries this season. Which contributed to the gaping midfield hole Maresca was staring at on the way to Lancashire.
Moises Caicedo was in Burnley on Saturday lunchtime only after returning from captaining Ecuador in New Zealand on Wednesday. Even if Palmer had been available, Caicedo would surely have remained Chelsea’s most important player.
The midfielder has won more tackles than any Chelsea player and, prior to Enzo Fernandez’s points-sealing strike at Turf Moor, he was the joint-top scorer in all competitions. Caicedo makes the Blues tick.
Romeo Lavia could do a job but the £50million midfielder’s injury woes mean we might struggle to ever know for sure. Injury has also deprived summer signing Dario Essugo of the opportunity to make his case to cover or complement Caicedo.
At Burnley, the stand-in role fell to Andrey Santos. The Brazilian has mostly been used in a more advanced position this season but he switched so seamlessly to a more defensive focus that he was named man of the match.
It took Santos and Chelsea the opening quarter to really settle and subdue the hosts. Burnley broke on Chelsea repeatedly early on, forcing three blocks from different defenders to deny the Clarets a clear sight of Robert Sanchez’s goal. Once Santos and Fernandez took hold of the midfield, Burnley’s dangerous wide men were utterly starved of service.
As always, Marc Cucurella supplemented Maresca’s midfield, driving in from left-back – and a little less from wing-back when Chelsea switched systems at the break – to play a leading role in Chelsea’s opener. From Cucurella, the Blues’ own flying wingers took over, Jamie Gittens floating a delightful ball to the far post for the again-excellent Pedro Neto to give the visitors a lead they never looked like relinquishing.
Of course, just this week, tougher tests lie ahead but these awkward assignments, away at teams happy to sit deep, are seen as Chelsea’s weakness. Breezing past Burnley suggests they may have more answers than many previously thought.
