Chelsea have finished outside the Premier League’s top four positions in the last two consecutive seasons, but it feels like the expectation is rising on them to secure a Champions League finish this term.
There’s only five points that separates Manchester City in second and Newcastle United in 10th during a very congested Premier League table right now. However, Chelsea should be pretty content that they currently sit third in the division standings after 12 matches.
Troy Deeney says Chelsea should be thinking about the title, even if he thinks their defence is a major weakness.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 8 | 16 | 31 |
| 2 |  Man CityManchester City | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 17 | 5 | 23 |
| 3 |  ChelseaChelsea | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 22 |
| 4 |  ArsenalArsenal | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 22 |
- READ MORE: Where Chelsea would sit in the Premier League table this season without Mohamed Salah at Liverpool
Ben Foster thinks Chelsea look good to finish in the top four
Ben Foster has delivered a really positive verdict on Chelsea after what he’s seen from them in the first few months of the season. In fact, he sounds confident that the Blues will finish inside the Premier League’s top four this year.
Foster said on his YouTube channel: “Chelsea, I think they’re good for top four. Some of the players that are just in form now… Going back to the start of the season, we were almost ridiculing Chelsea for the amount of players they’ve got. Everyone is kind of eating a bit of humble pie now.”
During the recent international break, Opta predicted Chelsea are most likely to finish fourth in the Premier League. It would represent a really good debut year for Maresca at Stamford Bridge if he gets the club back into the Champions League.
Comparing Chelsea in the 2023/24 season vs 2024/25 season
Mauricio Pochettino certainly had a turbulent year during last season in the manager’s dugout at Chelsea. In contrast, Maresca appears to have settled a lot quicker into life in west London and calmed everything down.
Here is a comparison between the Blues after 12 games last season to where they are this campaign:
| Position | Games played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals scored | Goals against | Goal difference | Points |
| 10th | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 16 |
| Position | Games played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals scored | Goals against | Goals difference | Points |
| 3rd | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 14 | +9 | 22 |
Chelsea play Aston Villa, Southampton and Tottenham in two of their next three league fixtures. It should give them a perfect opportunity to throw down a marker versus Villa and Spurs, two clubs that will have their eyes on the top four as well.
Steve Nicol is backing Chelsea for a top-four finish because rivals around them are struggling for any consistency.
The mood within the Blues fanbase feels so much brighter than this time 12 months ago, so supporters will hope they can kick on now and capitalise on their next games.
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