CFC-Blues

Chelsea's start to the season: A review

Judd Weinstein

SEP 4, 2025

We have reached the first international break of the season which means it is time to review Chelsea's opening 3 games and discuss the positives, negatives and everything in between.

Chelsea go into the break in second position on the table behind Liverpool sitting on 7 points, winning 2 out of their 3 games and drawing the other one. Not a bad place to be and I, as a Chelsea fan, am certainly not complaining either. However, the only real convincing performance came away at West Ham with the game ending 5-1. That being said, football is largely a results driven business so to be positioned second is nothing to complain about, but rather actually quite a positive result. To kick off the season Chelsea were drawn to face Crystal palace at home, then West Ham away with the last game before the break being at home to Fulham.

Chelsea Vs Crystal Palace

Personally before the season started I had so much excitement about Chelsea's season largely because of the success we had at the Club World Cup and I could not wait to watch the side back in action in a competitive league game against Crystal Palace. The game ended up finishing in a not so entertaining 0-0 draw which left me and I'm sure a lot of other Chelsea fans feeling quite disappointed. As I watched the game I couldn't help but feel the same frustration that I have felt in previous years watching Chelsea, which came from the fact that it was so difficult to create chances against a low block. Yes it was frustrating however credit should be given to Palce who set up really well making it hard to create any meaningful chances. I believe that a lot of teams would have struggled to score against Palace that day.

At the time of writing this, Palace have only conceded one goal in their last 5, with the goal coming last weekend against Nottingham Forest. The game had its moments with young star Estevao coming on and making a difference in his Premier League debut, creating chances and looking to take his man on every time he got the chance. Some would say the Chelsea team were still in first gear after a shortened pre-season, which may have some truth. However, I credit Palace for the defensive performance they displayed.

Crystal Palace are unbeaten in their last 10 competitive matches:

0-0 draw at Chelsea
2-2 draw vs Liverpool 🏆
1-1 draw at Liverpool
4-2 win vs Wolves
1-0 win vs Man City 🏆
2-0 win at Tottenham
1-1 draw vs Nottingham Forest
3-0 win vs Aston Villa
2-2 draw at Arsenal
0-0 draw vs… pic.twitter.com/vMItvlZuf7
— StatMuse FC (@statmusefc) August 17, 2025

Chelsea Vs West Ham

The away trip to West Ham quickly became a huge game and fans expected 3 points, especially after the disappointing 0-0 draw to kick off the season. Fans were slightly concerned even before the game got underway with Cole palmer being ruled out due to an injury he sustained in the warm up. The game got underway and within 10 minutes Chelsea found themselves a goal down thanks to a wonder strike from Lucas Paqueta. I think that goal was needed to wake the Blues up, with Joao Pedro levelling the score from a header. West ham had a goal ruled out shortly after Chelsea equalised, however, from that moment on Chelsea looked like the team we were expecting them to be. Maresca ball was in full flow with youngster Estevao holding the key to unlock the West ham defence. The game ended in a 5-1 thrashing and the Blues looked like they had found their form.

Chelsea vs Fulham

Chelsea V Fulham ended in a 2-0 win, however, it did not come without controversy. Joshua King gave Fulham the deserved lead in the first half, before VAR stepped in and made one of the more debatable decisions of the season when they disallowed the goal. The Premier League has since come out and said that they made a mistake and the goal should have stood, which leaves us asking questions over the consistency of VAR and if it is being used the right way or if it should even be used at all. Nevertheless, Chelsea won the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro. The Chelsea performance again was not all convincing but ended the game with all 3 points. To have a successful Premier League season you need to win the games that maybe you shouldn't and you sometimes need decisions to go your way. I think that if the same game was played last year the result would be different, which for me shows improvement in the character of this Chelsea side and an overall positive to take from the opening 3 fixtures.

Biggest winners

If I had to grade Chelsea's start to the season, I would give them an 8/10 which is obviously a really positive score. I know the performances have not been what most fans would have expected, however, to be in second position having not lost a game yet is without a doubt a positive result. The performances will come, the squad is very talented and is capable of competing at the highest level in all competitions this season.

Some players that have really stood out to me so far this season are Joao Pedro but also Pedro Neto, who I think is on his way to being world class and is an extremely reliable option for the Blues. His work rate is nuts and has established himself as one of the best wingers in the League.

The young star Estevao has been a stand out as-well, filling Palmer's shoes while he is out is no easy job but the young Brazilian looks unfazed. The quality he has at such a young age is phenomenal and I cannot wait to see what he can do this season. The central midfielder Moises Caicedo is an absolute gem. Work rate similar to Kante and his ball winning ability is amazing, he is a joy to watch and has become such an important piece of Maersca's system. It was a shame to see Delap go off with an injury because he too is an incredible player and I know he will score many goals in a Chelsea shirt. He's a big physical striker that can hold the ball up, got speed to burn too and knows where the back of the net is. There are so many stand out performers in this side it is hard to speak about all of them but it is fair to say that the squad is looking formidable and I am excited to see what happens this season. The next phase of fixtures cannot come sooner, with some big Premier League clashes and of course the Champions League starting very soon.