Assessing Mauricio Pochettino’s opening games as Chelsea manager

The 2023-24 Premier League campaign is due to get underway in just under a month and there are very few teams in the English top flight with a bigger point to prove than Chelsea.

Things have been nothing short of chaotic at Stamford Bridge since the British government imposed sanctions on former owner Roman Abramovich — which ultimately ended the Russian’s love affair with the club.

American businessman Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital purchased the West London outfit for a record-breaking £4.25 billion last May, but they are yet to steady the ship despite splashing over £600 million on players and Chelsea are already on their fourth manager under the new ownership as Mauricio Pochettino is the most recent man tasked with taking the reins.

After enduring their worst season since the 1990s last term, finishing a dire 12th in the table, the pressure is on the former Tottenham Hotspur boss to get off to a good start at Stamford Bridge. However, Chelsea aren’t exactly favoured to secure Champions League football in the EPL top 4 odds and Pochettino hasn’t been handed an easy opening game to help his cause.

That said, let’s take a look at the Blues’ start to the season and assess their chances of making a solid start to the campaign before the first international break in September.

Liverpool – Home

Given that Liverpool also had something of a difficult 2022-23 season and now have a point to prove as they look to bounce back into contention for a top-four spot or even challenge for the title, Pochettino arguably couldn’t have asked for a tougher start to life at Chelsea.

Chelsea do have home advantage though and Jurgen Klopp could find it difficult to prepare tactics for the game as this will be a first look at Pochettino’s new-look Blues. The last four Premier League encounters between these sides have ended in a draw and we wouldn’t bet against that being the outcome once again.

West Ham – Away

While losing captain Declan Rice to London rivals Arsenal will be a big blow for West Ham this coming season, David Moyes will likely bring in a suitable replacement to fill the void in midfield before the start of the campaign and he too needs to get his side in better shape after disappointingly finishing 14th last year.

Chelsea don’t have the best away record at the London Stadium either, winning just three of their last 10 trips across the capital — including just one victory in their last five visits. Pochettino will be hoping he can buck that trend and the Blues are the better side on paper, so they should come away with the win.

Luton Town – Home

What many might consider to be Chelsea’s first ‘guaranteed’ win of the season, Luton Town sent shockwaves through English football when they won the Championship play-offs last season despite having one of the smallest budgets in the second tier. But they are being given no chance of survival in the Premier League and are heavily expected to go straight back down to the Championship.

Chelsea faced the Hatters in the 2021 and 2022 renewals of the FA Cup, beating them 3-1 at Stamford Bridge two years ago before having to come back from behind twice to ultimately win 3-2 at Kenilworth Road last year. Rob Edwards’ side will be tricky opposition, but the Blues should pick up all three points as they ought to have too much quality for Luton.

Nottingham Forest – Home

Chelsea go into the first international break of the season with another home fixture against Nottingham Forest on September 2. Steve Cooper’s side found themselves in a similar situation to Luton when they won the play-offs last year, with almost everyone predicting they would go back down at the first time of asking, but Forest finished the season strongly to secure safety by four points.

The Blues struggled against the midlands side last year as well, being held to a 1-1 draw at the City Ground before Forest nicked another point from their grasp in a 2-2 draw at the Bridge in the third last game week. These are games Chelsea should be winning though and nothing other than all three points will be good enough.