Chelsea's Champions League final win in May was their third consecutive victory over Manchester City in all competitions.
Only two managers have ever beaten Pep Guardiola three times in a row since he left Barcelona B: Jurgen Klopp, and now Thomas Tuchel.
It was Klopp's Liverpool who denied City three Premier League titles in three seasons when they triumphed in 2019-20. It's Tuchel's Chelsea who look best placed to wrestle the crown from the head of the champions in 2021-22.
The Blues begin their campaign in the UEFA Super Cup against Europa League winners Villarreal: no pushovers, as Manchester United will tell you, but a team who will not be expected to win in Belfast.
It could be a double celebration for Chelsea fans, too, as a deal to bring Romelu Lukaku back to the club from Inter looks set to be concluded shortly. It could well be Belgium's record goalscorer who makes the difference when Tuchel targets the club's first league title since 2017...
Putting it bluntly...
Chelsea went unbeaten in their first 14 games under Tuchel after he replaced Frank Lampard as head coach in January. They secured a top-four finish, reached the FA Cup final and won the Champions League for the second time.
It seems strange, then, to say they weren't particularly good going forward.
From Tuchel's appointment on January 26 to the end of last season, Chelsea scored 38 goals in all competitions, as many as Granada and Montpellier over the same time frame. By contrast, Tottenham scored 49, Manchester United 58, and City 70. A 4-1 win at Crystal Palace on April 10 remains the only occasion Tuchel's Chelsea have scored more than twice in a game.
The lack of cutting edge was not for a paucity of chances, either. They were third in the Premier League last term for shots, and their expected goals from open play in the top flight (42.5) was the fifth-best in the division. The problem was they underperformed that value by 6.5 – only Liverpool (6.6) did worse among top-half teams.
They may have found a €115million solution to that problem.
Rom's redemption
Lukaku enjoyed the season of his career in 2020-21. With 30 goals and 11 assists, only six players in Europe's top-five leagues were directly involved in more goals. All of those assists came from open play, too, a figure nobody in Serie A could better.
By contrast, Chelsea's most productive forward was Timo Werner (12 goals, 11 assists), with the Germany international's xG of 21.07 significantly down on Lukaku's 30.02. Werner was, of course, scrutinised ever more intensely for failing to take his opportunities (he scored 28.57 per cent of his 'big chances'), but there were no such problems for Lukaku, who converted 51.02 per cent of his.
Lukaku, of course, is more than a goalscorer. He created 63 chances last term, more than any Chelsea player except Mason Mount (109). He also completed 67 dribbles, a figure only two players surpassed for Tuchel's team. He was equally adept at carving out opportunities as he was at taking them, his partnership with Lautaro Martinez firing Inter to their first Scudetto in over a decade.
It's that all-round threat that was too often missing in his days at United, when Jose Mourinho deployed him generally as a rudimentary target man, not as the roving forward sometimes seen starting out wide for his country. The Lukaku of 2021 is a player who thrives when involved in sequences of play, not just when trying to finish them.
Given Chelsea were second only to City last season for passes per sequence (4.83), sequences of 10 or more passes (778) and build-up attacks (187), Lukaku will have every chance to operate at the heart of things.
Impregnable
Tuchel's first 10 Premier League matches produced only 13 goals, an average of 1.3 per game. There were 12 goals scored in their preceding two league matches alone.
We know about their limitations in attack, but the lack of consistent goal-fests also proves just how strong in defence they have become.
Only Manchester City and Liverpool faced fewer shots than Chelsea (336) in the Premier League last season, while they conceded 36 goals, a number only beaten by the champions. There was also just one game where they conceded more than a single goal under Tuchel: that bizarre 5-2 home defeat to West Brom, when the Baggies played like peak Barcelona, and Chelsea played like... well, like last season's West Brom.
Even with that defeat considered, Chelsea's expected goals against under Tuchel was just 20.53, well below City (26.58) or anyone else in England's top flight across all competitions. They kept 10 clean sheets in their first 14 league games under the German, equalling the quickest time for a manager to reach such a figure in Premier League history (Luiz Felipe Scolari did it in 2008).
From Tuchel's first game to the end of the season, no Premier League team lost fewer games (five), conceded fewer goals (16) or kept more clean sheets (19) than Chelsea in all competitions. And now, they reportedly want to add Sevilla's talented Jules Kounde to their defensive options.
The game against Villarreal in Northern Ireland could well showcase the new English champions in waiting.
Ali Al-Hamadi’s goalscoring ability was never doubted by Johnnie Jackson
Johnnie Jackson never doubted the goalscoring capabilities of Ali Al-Hamadi, whose impressive hat-trick proved decisive in AFC Wimbledon’s 4-1 win over Tranmere.
The Iraqi international bagged his first career treble, leading the charge as AFC Wimbledon came from behind to pick up their first home win of the Sky Bet League Two season and move into the play-off places.
Prior to Saturday’s contest, Al-Hamadi had found trouble converting his chances and his goal tally for the season sat at just one.
However, Jackson insisted that it was an inevitability that the 21-year-old would find his shooting boots for Wimbledon.
Jackson said: “I always said it was coming, but no one said it more than him.
“No one here was worried about him scoring goals because you’re seeing how well he’s playing, seeing how many chances we’re creating for him as a team, how many he’s creating for himself by his own devilment.
“We knew they’d come for him. It’s ironic how in one week you get one, and then the next week you go and get your hat-trick.
“Delight for Ali, it’ll do him the world of good.”
For Tranmere manager Nigel Adkins, the heroics of Al-Hamadi only brought frustration as his side’s wait for a point on the road this season continues.
Rovers had snatched an early lead through Connor Jennings, but after Armani Little brought AFC Wimbledon level, it all went wrong for the visitors.
Defeat leaves Tranmere in the relegation zone, where they started the day, having won only two of their first 10 games this season.
However, Adkins has nonetheless found encouragement by the start his team made to the game.
He said: “We started both halves really, really well. The first half especially.
“Our intensity, our passing, our movement, our identity, our understanding of what we wanted. For the first 20 minutes, it was spot on.
“And then goals changed the complexion of the game.”
A key moment of the game came eight minutes after the interval, when Josh Turnbull saw red after a rash challenge on Isaac Ogundere.
The challenge was right under the nose of Adkins, who understood referee Daniel Middleton’s decision to dismiss Turnbull.
“It’s a thunderous challenge going in, committed,” Adkins added.
“We want committed challenges going in, but I think in the climate of today, maybe a follow through is just enough [to be a red card].
“It’s a fraction harsh, but the referee had a decision to make and we went down to 10 men.”
Scott Lindsey not taken by surprise as Crawley’s stunning start continues
Crawley boss Scott Lindsey is not surprised his side are up to second in League Two after they beat rock-bottom Sutton 3-0.
After suffering their worst campaign since promotion to the EFL last season, there has been a transformation at the Broadfield Stadium and the Reds are now boasting their best start since coming up in 2011.
An early goal from Adam Campbell sent the hosts on their way and Laurence Maguire and Danilo Orsi added further goals in the second half as Crawley recorded a fourth straight league win.
“We expect good results because of the work we put in,” Lindsey said.
“Within the group, we felt we could do what we’ve done.
“We feel we will always score goals but we do need to be stingier at the back.
“This was our first clean sheet since the opening day and we have spoken about us needing around 20 over the season so we need to do better.
“We know that football can kick you in the teeth.
“So we must remain professional and I will not allow us to get complacent.”
Sutton manager Matt Gray felt the turning point of the game arrived when Crawley added their second goal from a free-kick which he was convinced should have gone the way of his bottom-of-the-table side.
“I’m not happy with that as it was a blatant free-kick to us,” Gray said.
“But we should have taken one of our many chances to go in level or ahead at half-time.”
Sutton, who lost keeper Dean Bouzanis to a hip injury shortly after the break, have now lost eight of their last nine league games, but Gray is convinced results will soon turn.
He added: “Over the last two weeks I’ve been pleased with the performances and I was in parts today.
“A little bit of fortune would be nice. A couple of decisions going for us, and a bit of rub of the green will help turn it.
“I was disappointed with the second goal today, our disallowed goals and the penalty shouts.
“We need to make sure we get that result and we can kick on from there.”
Gillingham boss Neil Harris hit outs at referee over Mansfield equaliser
Gillingham manager Neil Harris criticised referee Jacob Miles after Davis Keillor-Dunn’s controversial goal earned Mansfield a point from a 1-1 draw at Priestfield.
The Scottish striker cancelled out Macauley Bonne’s early opener for the Gills, but it came from a free-kick taken when it appeared that referee Miles was in the process of booking midfielder Ethan Coleman.
Gillingham would have returned to the top of League Two with a victory but slipped from second to fifth after drawing a game for the first time this season.
“I feel we’re right to be hard done by,” said Harris. “It’s frustrating as the game swung massively at that moment.
“If we focus on the moment, Ethan brings the lad down. It’s a foul and a yellow card. I’m not disputing the law there.
“Mansfield’s players are well within their rights to play on. But the referee makes it clear to everybody in the ground, because of his actions with his whistle and the card, that he’s going to book our player. Ultimately, his body language and demeanour have made our team stop.
“I’ve spoken to the referee, who was good enough to give me his time. He obviously stands by his decision but needs to see it back. I’ve been fortunate enough to see it back. If he pulled the game back the moment they passed the ball, this moment would not be mentioned one bit.”
Former Charlton and Ipswich striker Bonne scored his first goal for the Gills 95 seconds into the game after Connor Mahoney capitalised on a loose pass from Stags defender Lewis Brunt.
Keillor-Dunn’s equaliser, his eighth league goal of the season, tied the game nine minutes before the break. George Maris blazed over after meeting Ollie Clarke’s cutback and Shad Ogie blocked Lucas Akins’ driven effort as the Stags went closest to a second-half winner.
“We recovered extremely well after the first two minutes,” said Town manager Nigel Clough after watching his side extend their unbeaten league run to 11 games dating back to last season.
“I thought in the first half we had an element of control to our game. Then in the second half we had the control and the chances. I’m pleased with the number of chances we made in the second half.
“Gillingham made some brilliant blocks and defended well. I think if George’s chance goes in just after half-time, we go on to win the game,” he said.
Clough saw no issue with his side’s equaliser, adding: “We just took a quick free-kick. I don’t think there’s anything in the rules against taking a quick free-kick. We tell them in training to play quickly. The ball went straight past their centre-half, who stood there watching, and Davis has finished it well.”
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