Chelsea: Premier League Season Preview

With the Premier League season now rapidly approaching, I have decided to take a look at each of the 20 sides that will be playing at the top level of English football during this upcoming season.

I have decided to actually go in reverse order, with Wolverhampton starting the list off and Arsenal concluding it right before the start of the Premier League season.

In the 14th installment of this series, I will now look at Chelsea, which won the Premier League and the FA Cup last season to complete the English Double in Carlo Ancelotti's first year in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Review of Last Year

After the team finished third the season before, Carlo Ancelotti came into Chelsea with the goal of a Premier League championship, and he was able to deliver on that as Chelsea became the highest scoring side in Premier League history and really were dominant.

With the Premier League Golden Boot winner Didier Drogba's 29 goals and Frank Lampard's 17 assists, the offense was more than formidable.

And with Petr Cech and John Terry in the back, Chelsea's net was nearly impenetrable as they won the Premier League.

Transfers:

Incoming Players:

Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool) and Ramires (Benfica).

Departing Players:

Joe Cole (Liverpool), Seth Ofori-Twumasi (Peterborough United), Michael Ballack (Bayer Leverkusen), Rhys Taylor (Crewe Alexandra), Danny Philliskirk (Oxford United), Ryan Bertrand (Nottingham Forest), and Ben Gordon (Kilmarnock).

Chelsea Fixture List

All times are GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

 

Major Questions Going into This Season:

1. How much will early season injuries hurt Chelsea?

With Didier Drogba and Petr Cech both out to start off the season, Chelsea will be without two of their major weapons in August.

But with an easy fixture list to start off the season, Chelsea will not be hurt at all by the loss of their stars.

2. Will Chelsea make another major move in the transfer market?

Chelsea were linked to Kaka this summer (before he was due to miss several months with a knee injury) and to Neymar (who doesn't appear ready to leave Santos).

Ramires now has joined The Blues, but Chelsea will probably pursue another key player before the start of the season.

3. Will Chelsea achieve success in the Champions League this season?

Last season Chelsea fell out of the Champions League in the round of 16 at the expense of eventual winners Inter Milan, a loss that allowed Chelsea to complete the English double.

Chelsea should do better this year in the Champions League, but that will hurt their chances of winning the Premier League.

4. Will Chelsea be able to repeat as Premier League champions?

Repeating as Premier League champions is always a tough feat to achieve, and at this stage I find it extremely hard to imagine Chelsea finishing at the top of the league table because they will do better in the Champions League.

For a preview of Everton's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Fulham's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Liverpool's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Manchester City's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Manchester United's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Newcastle's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Stoke City's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Sunderland's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Tottenham's Premier League season, please click here.

For a premier of West Bromwich's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of West Ham's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Wigan's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Wolverhampton's Premier League season, please click here.