Betting : Chelsea analysis

Well they have the squad to do it and they have the manager in Carlo Ancelotti and now they have the hunger. After back to back titles under Jose Mourinho, it must have come as a serious disappointment to Chelsea and their billionaire owner Roman Abramovich to see Manchester United sweep to three successive league titles and not to mention a Champions League title.

Chelsea have been like an unwanted guest at a party who is forced to look in through the window to see the festivities. But I think that this season, the balance of power will swing into the blue corner yet again. Chelsea came close last season which is pretty remarkable considering the massive upheaval at the club where they basically had the wrong man in charge for half the season.

In a recent interview, captain John Terry has revealed how the hunger of not winning the league for three seasons and missing out on the Champions League is really driving the team on. After finally putting an end to all of the speculation regarding his future at the club and his proposed transfer to Manchester City, he is now really looking forward to the new season with gusto.

Terry said “I am really fed up with seeing Manchester United winning trophies, going three years without winning the title isn’t where we want to be as a football club”. Terry admitted that he was personally inspired by listening to owner Roman Abamovich’s vision for the future of the club and that there was no doubt that Chelsea was where he needed to be.

Chelsea haven’t really added to their squad at all but then again they didn’t really need to. Maybe one could argue that they have an ageing side but this team certainly has at least one league title in them and we know that they are good enough to win the Champions League having come very close in the past few years. The only team that could come between Chelsea and Manchester United this year is Liverpool and they don’t seem to have significantly added to their squad at all.

A lot will depend on how the tactics of Ancelotti adapt to the Premier League but I don’t believe that he will make the same mistakes as what Luiz Felipe Scolari did. I think that Ancelotti’s vast experience at club management and what he achieved at AC Milan will guide Chelsea to the title this season and for me, they are the best bet out of all of the leading title contenders.

Meanwhile back up north in Manchester, United have their own incentives for winning the league again. Doing so will set two pieces of history.

Firstly, they will become the first team to win four consecutive top flight titles. Secondly, another title would take their total to 19 which would surpass their arch rivals Liverpool who have 18. Despite this however, I don’t think that United have the firepower to withstand a powerful Chelsea side over 38 games and they may have to wait at least one more season to surpass Liverpool’s total.

So for me, I am firmly with Chelsea this season in terms of who will be champions, Chelsea are already there and proven while a Manchester United team minus Ronaldo could really struggle to maintain the highs that they have achieved in past seasons. Ronaldo has been the difference in so many games for United winning them many points from difficult positions that I can see United dropping at least ten points over the course of the season without him…….and that’s enough to give Chelsea the title.

by Carl “The Dean” Sampson

What team do you think will win the Premier League this season? Place you bet at bwin.com