By Sam McGuireThe Club World Cup champions spent just shy of £300million, bringing in the likes of João Pedro, Liam Delap, Alejandro Garnacho, Jorrel Hato and Jamie Gittens, but managed to balance their books by cashing in on Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku, João Félix and a host of other squad players. Heading into the 2025/26 season, Chelsea were a bit of a wildcard. They’d assembled an impressive squad and had showcased their quality during the Club World Cup, hammering Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the final. But the Premier League requires consistency. And there’s been nothing consistent about Enzo Maresca’s side. In fact, it’s hard to be consistent when there’s such a turnover of players every summer. To complicate matters further, Levi Colwill was ruled out for most of the campaign before he’d even kicked a ball. They kicked off the first game of the season, at home to Crystal Palace, without Colwill, Roméo Lavia and Benoît Badiashile. The highly-rated Josh Acheampong started alongside Trevoh Chalobah at centre-back. It didn’t go to plan for the hosts and the game finished 0-0. João Pedro, making his first start in the Premier League for the Blues, finished with a FotMob rating of 5.9, the lowest of the game. Maresca’s men finished with an open-play xG of just one. Cole Palmer, the club’s most important attacker, managed to create just one chance. The balance of the team felt off. And this was, of course, the concern with adding so many players in one summer. In the warm-up to the second game, away to West Ham, Palmer sustained an injury and was replaced in the starting XI. The Blues, without their best defender in Colwill and their best player in Palmer, could’ve struggled. Instead, they put on a finishing clinic to romp to a 5-1 win over the Hammers. They followed that up with an impressive 2-0 victory over an unbeaten Fulham side. Now, during the first international break of the season, Maresca’s men are one of just three unbeaten teams in the English top-flight. They trail leaders Liverpool by two points but have been the best team in the Premier League. In fact, they’re the highest rated FotMob team in the top tier of English football right now with an average rating of 7.16.All of their numbers are surprisingly good too. Why does this come as such a surprise? Well, they’ve been without Palmer for two of their three games. For the past two campaigns, he’s been their most impactful player. He finished last term with 23 goal involvements in the Premier League. The season before that, his debut one with the Blues, he claimed 22 goals and 11 assists. Their 2024/25 campaign was derailed a little when Palmer struggled for form. Chelsea weren’t Palmer FC but they weren’t far away from that. This season, they’ve been forced to adapt. And they’ve flourished, to an extent. The Blues currently rank second in the Premier League for goals scored (2.3). They have the joint best defensive record having allowed just one goal across their three outings. As a result of this, they are, of course, joint-top for clean sheets (two). The underlying numbers are just as positive too. They have the second highest Expected Goals haul in the Premier League. The leaders for this metric? Are you seated? It is Manchester United. Maresca’s men have the third lowest Expected Goals Against total. Only Newcastle (1.6) and Arsenal (2.2) have given up lower value opportunities.Other headline figures are just as impressive. They top the charts for possession with 61.5%. They’ve created the most big chances in the English top-flight with 12 and they’re fourth in the league for touches in the box. The same sample isn’t the largest, granted, but everything is encouraging, isn’t it?Chelsea have an efficient and aggressive attack. They have a resolute and robust defensive structure too. As the season progresses, their team should become even stronger. The more this group plays together, the better they’ll be. And we’re yet to see Palmer find his feet this season. Adding him to this group is an intriguing prospect. Combined, this is a scary prospect for their rivals.The focus has been on whether Liverpool can retain their crown or if Arsenal will finally end their run of second place finishes. There’s even been some talk over whether City can reclaim top spot. Few are even talking about Chelsea, but, as things stand, they’re the dark horse in this title race.Yes, it’s a little premature to be saying this but things are looking good for the Blues.(Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.