Chelsea 2017/18 season preview: Will the Blues retain the title?

Will Chelsea retain the Premier League title in 2017/18? Read our season preview with expert views from Soccer Saturday pundit Paul Merson.

Last season’s finishing position: 1st (+9)

Total points: 93 (+43)
FA Cup: Final
EFL Cup: Fourth round
Top league scorer: Diego Costa (20)

Key stat: Diego Costa might be on his way out of Chelsea but he was arguably their most important player as they won their fifth Premier League title. He scored 20 goals and without them, Antonio Conte’s side would have been 15 points worse off. His goals were worth more points than any those of any other player in the competition.
Major ins: Alvaro Morata (Real Madrid, £70m), Tiemoue Bakayoko (Monaco, £40m), Antonio Rudiger (Roma, £34m), Willy Caballero (Manchester City, free)

Major outs: Nathan Ake (Bournemouth, £20m), Asmir Begovic (Bournemouth, £10m), Juan Cuadrado (Juventus, £17m), Bertrand Traore (Lyon, £8.8m), Dominic Solanke (Liverpool, compensation pending), Christian Atus (Newcastle, £6.2m), Nathaniel Chalobah (Watford, £7m), Nemanja Matic (Manchester United, £40m), John Terry (Aston Villa, free)
PAUL MERSON’S VIEW

Will Chelsea retain the title?

MERSE: I think they might go for the Champions League more than the league. They’ve won the Premier League two out of the last three seasons, but they haven’t won the Champions League for a while and Antonio Conte hasn’t even got close, so I think he’ll want to prove something there.

I think they’ll miss Diego Costa, especially as Alvaro Morata is settling in initially. They’ve got N’Golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko in midfield but I think he needs Cesc Fabregas in there to make things happen.
Which of their players are most excited about watching?

MERSE: I always say Eden Hazard. However I’m looking forward to seeing Morata. I do think he suits Chelsea. It just depends how long it takes him to adapt.

What are the challenges facing the manager this season?

MERSE: Well the record is against them in terms of defending the Premier League title and it gets harder and harder to defend it with clubs like City spending ridiculous money. It’s a lot easier to get to the top than stay there. We saw City win the title and we thought they’d dominate, but they didn’t strengthen.

I think you need to sign four or five quality players to stay up there, especially given they only played one game a week last season.

McDonald’s sell more cheeseburgers than anyone else but they still come up with new burgers and adverts, because you always need to keep moving forward to stay ahead of the competition.

What are their strengths?

MERSE: Defensively I think they’re rock solid. They’ve also got players who make things happen and now they’ve got to rely on Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi to score the goals.
What are their weaknesses?

MERSE: It will be when teams play the right system against them, putting wingers right up there and asking the wing-backs whether they’re going to stay back or let centre-backs be dragged out wide. Cesar Azpilicueta can do it but I’m not sure Gary Cahill is comfortable with it.

Where will they finish this season and why?

MERSE: I think they’ll finish second and have a great Champions League campaign. I think they’ll go the furthest in the competition out of the English side because they’ll go away and get clean sheets. I’m not sure the other sides can do that. They’re by far the most suited to the Champions League format.Euro Soccer Bonus

Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.

This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.

The maximum bonus that you can receive is €100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.

If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:

Bet Type Bonus

14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus €100,000 or currency equivalent. Euro Soccer Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.

If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.

If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.

Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.

In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.

All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.

bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.