On the face of it, Chelsea had a pretty successful 2024/25 season. The Blues finished fourth in the league table and qualified for the Champions League and also became the first English club to win all five European continental competitions by adding the Conference League to their trophy cabinet.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Blues throughout the campaign, and the season could’ve ended very differently. New coach Enzo Maresca was a divisive figure among the club’s fans with his tactics, with several of them claiming that the former Leicester boss wasn’t quite at the level required to succeed at Stamford Bridge. The Blues were actually 7th in the table in mid-April but engineered a turnaround to finish in the CL places.
Fulham game the catalyst
The win over Fulham in the third week of April was probably the turning point of the season for the club. They were trailing 1-0 at Craven Cottage with less than ten minutes to go, but stunning goals from Tyrique George and Pedro Neto saw them claim a come-from-behind 2-1 victory.
Including that Fulham game, the Blues won 5 of their last 6 fixtures, which also included victories over the likes of champions Liverpool, old rivals Man United and high-flying Nottingham Forest, the last of which was effectively a shootout for CL footy on the final day of the campaign.
Interestingly, the other fixture against Fulham, a 2-1 loss at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day, was also the precursor to Chelsea’s mid-season slump, so it was perhaps fitting that a win over the Cottagers was key to finishing the season on a high for Maresca’s men.
New signings
The club have been busy in the transfer market, adding the likes of Liam Delap, Mamadou Sarr and Joao Pedro to their roster. For those into bet builder tips, Delap was a bit of a favourite with the punters last season. Despite being a striker, he had a whopping 72 fouls to his name (second most in the league) and had the joint most yellow cards (12)
Striker and goalkeeper were looked as key areas for Maresca to strengthen ahead of the new season, and in Delap, they have a promising player who could be a long-term replacement for Nicolas Jackson upfront. Maresca has focused on youth- CFC were also the youngest squad to qualify for the CL last season.
Chelsea’s progress and run in the Club World Cup- far better than fellow PL participants Man City, means the Delap transfer has practically paid for itself.
Cole Palmer remains central to this side- many of the club’s best moments last season involved him- the Panenka v Spurs, the four goals against Brighton, the 2-1 against Newcastle to name a few. If he can maintain that form, the Blues will have serious ambitions of finishing in the top two and challenging the likes of Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal.
Decent fixture list
On paper, CFC have a relatively kind fixture list to start off, with the first four games all against fellow London clubs. They begin at home to Crystal Palace, followed by an away trip to West Ham and finish the month against Fulham at the Bridge.
September starts with an away trip to Brentford, which is then followed by a troika of challenging fixtures against Man United, Brighton and Liverpool.
Chelsea had the third best home form in the league last season, but were only the seventh best team on the road, and that’s a statistic Maresca would look to change if his team are to challenge the big guns this season.