Chelsea ended the 2021/22 season as they did the two previously, with a loss in the FA Cup final, leaving manager Thomas Tuchel without a domestic trophy in his time at Stamford Bridge to date.
The London club finished third in the Premier League, falling short of challenging Liverpool or Manchester City in what turned out to be a thrilling title race.
He and Blues' supporters are unlikely to despair over that fact, seeing as the club are the current Club World Cup champions, for the time being at least. But Chelsea must be keen to return as a contender in the league campaign this time around.
Size Matters
Chelsea begin this campaign with a need to greatly reduce the size of their squad, especially with changes incoming on the number of ‘homegrown’ players eligible, and restrictions on the number of players able to be loaned out.
This has already led to periphery players such as Danny Drinkwater and Charly Musonda being released, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen leaving on free transfers and the likes of Malang Sarr, Marcos Alonso, Michy Batshuayi, Ross Barkley, Hakim Ziyech and Kepa Arrizabalagaall seen as expendable.
The most notable departure from Stamford Bridge this season is that of £98 million record signing Romelu Lukaku who has been loaned back to his previous employers, Inter Milan after a single disappointing season on his return to London.
Signing On
Incoming has been England international attacker Raheem Sterling from Manchester City, defender Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli and goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina from Chicago Fire, who will remain with the Major League Soccer club until January. And in a surprise move, Carney Chukwuemaka joined from Aston Villa for an initial £20 million fee.
If rumours are to be believed then new owner Todd Boehly is looking to bring in more players, with Brighton Hove Albion’s Marc Cucurella, Leicester City’s Wesley Fofana and Barcelona’s Frankie De Jong touted as potential targets.
It remains to be seen what will happen to returning loanees Armando Broja, Levi Colwill and Billy Gilmour, with Conor Gallagher being given his first Chelsea squad number (15) following his impressive spell at Crystal Palace which saw him receive a senior England call-up.
Manager's Mood
Thomas Tuchel has experienced many changes of personnel behind the scenes at the club over recent months, and will likely be glad to be working towards the season with the new owner, having endured considerable instability.
The manager will have been frustrated with the failed pursuits and subsequent sagas of Raphinha and Jules Kounde’s transfers to Barcelona when deals had already been agreed with Chelsea, and is unlikely to allow club captain Cesar Azpilicueta to depart for the Catalan club unless replacements are recruited.
Reports of a rift with German forward Timo Werner could also see the former RB Leipzig player moved on.
Starting XI
Edouard Mendy; Thiago Silva, Kalidou Koulibaly, Cesar Azpilicueta; Reece James, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Ben Chilwell; Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling
Talking Points
Who will lead the line?
Not for the first time, Chelsea are experiencing some problems up front, with no obvious first-choice striker and a recently vacated number nine shirt.
Last season, Kai Havertz was perhaps the easiest pick for Tuchel in his front three, but his goal-scoring return is not that of a traditional target man and is unlikely to be enough to sustain a title challenge.
Winging it
Among the first-team squad, Chelsea currently have Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and now Raheem Sterling all hoping for regular games in similar positions in a World Cup year. Who will stay, who will go and who will be benched?
Can Chelsea challenge the top two?
Chelsea started last season on pace, and looked to mount a title challenge but fell away, with Liverpool and Manchester City fighting it out until the last day.
Both teams have strengthened their attacking lines with the signings of Darwin Nunez and Erling Halaand respectively, so will Chelsea have what it takes to take them on, or is securing Champions League football the target?
Prediction
With comings and goings expected throughout the month of August, we may see a different Chelsea line-up on the opening day to that which ends the month.
Tuchel will not just be worried about the teams who finished above Chelsea last season, but also those directly below, with both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal making improvements to their squads.
With Manchester United also hoping for positive changes under new manager Erik ten Hag, the race for elite European football will be tight and tenacious. Predicting another third place finish though, with Chelsea the best of the rest.
Season Prediction: 3rd