After finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League for the first time since 1995/96, Chelsea are under pressure to at least be challenging for a European place this season.

Stadium: Stamford Bridge
Manager: Mauricio Pochettino
Captain: Reece James
Top league scorer last season: Kai Havertz - 7
Last season's position: 12th

Chelsea 2023/24 Odds

To Finish in Top 4 - 5/4
To Finish in Top 6 - 8/15
Top-half finish - 1/16
Bottom-half finish - 9/1

Chelsea 2022/23 performance

Last season couldn't really have gone much worse for Chelsea. New owner and chairman Todd Boehly arrived in West London promising much, but delivered little.

The American sacked head coach Thomas Tuchel in September, hired and fired Graham Potter who was gone by April and then brought back Frank Lampard to see out their worst season since the mid-1990s.

Around £600million was spent on new players through two transfer windows as Boehly and his team trawled the globe looking for players and the upshot, perhaps unsurprisingly, was a chaotic anti-climax.

Chelsea 2023/24 prospects

For the first time since 2016/17 Chelsea have no European football to look forward to, which means the aspirations for new manager Mauricio Pochettino are very simple - get the Blues back towards the top six with a domestic cup run or two.

In keeping with the recent past, Pochettino is being allowed to spend lavishly on yet more new blood, with RB Leipzig striker Christopher Nkunku arriving for £52m and another forward, Nicolas Jackson, coming in from Villarreal for £32m.

It's easy to see why Pochettino wants to try something different up front given their troubles in front of goal in 2022/23, a season in which they scored just 38 goals.

His predecessors had an abundance of forward potential, but none cut the mustard, hence the exits of the likes of Kai Havertz, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount.

Pochettino is also balancing the books by binning any amount of costly dead wood, but a wholesale transformation of a club in crisis that may take time to evolve.

Fans can be confident that he seems to want to keep faith in young stars such as Reece James, Lewis Hall and Enzo Fernandez to embroider a side boasting the undoubted calibre of senior players like Raheem Sterling and Thiago Silva.

But Chelsea have big steps to climb after last term and success in closing the gap on the big boys is unlikely to happen overnight.

Chelsea manager - Mauricio Pochettino

Chelsea have made untold calamitous calls with managers in recent times, but they've very possibly struck gold with Mauricio Pochettino.

The Argentinian, an astute tactician and famed man-manager, will bring empathy, intellect and pedigree to Stamford Bridge, where the players have quickly - publicly at least - decided they like their incoming boss.

He first became a head coach at Espanyol in 2009, won plaudits there for his style and then moved to England, first to Southampton, then Tottenham, where he demonstrated dexterity in the transfer market, authority on the training ground and a desire to introduce and develop young talent.

And if there's one thing Chelsea's owners and fans want it's the blossoming of academy starlets and young players.

Pochettino only won silverware when he went to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 and ultimately a coach is always judged on how many trophies he wins.

But if he can mastermind a turnaround in Chelsea's fortunes over the coming months, that alone would be worth more than any end-of-season prizes.

Chelsea key player - Christopher Nkunku

A big-money signing from the Bundesliga with a big reputation for goals. Chelsea have heard that before, haven't they?

While it didn't work out for Timo Werner or Kai Havertz, there is hope that Christopher Nkunku can deliver as part of an attack full of forward options.

He likes to play through the middle, Pochettino is less certain, but whatever the plan, the fact is the France international has scored 36 goals for Leipzig in the last two Bundesliga seasons and big things are expected.

Chelsea One to Watch - Lewis Hall

There was little to shout about at the Bridge last season, but the emergence of Lewis Hall was certainly worth a raised voice at the very least.

Hall is still only 18, but managed eight Premier League starts last term and never looked out of place.

Mindful of wing-back Ben Chilwell's fitness issues and being aware of Hall's versatilit, should mean the latter is firmly in the South American boss' long-term planning.

It remains to be seen if he is allowed to make an impact from the off.

Chelsea Transfers

In:
Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal - £32m)
Christopher Nkunku (Leipzig - £52m)
Diego Moreira (Benfica - Free)
Angelo (Santos - £13m)

Out:
Kalidou Koulibaly (Al Hilal - £17m)
Mateo Kovacic (Man City - £25m)
Edouard Mendy (Al-Ahly - £16m)
Kai Havertz (Arsenal - £65m)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Milan - £15m)
N’Golo Kante (Al Ittihad - Free)
Mason Mount (Man United - £55m)
Cesar Azpilicueta (Atletico Madrid - Free)
Baba Rahman (PAOK - Free)
Christian Pulisic (AC Milan - £20m)
Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United - £7m)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Marseille - Free)

Chelsea Potential XI

(4-2-3-1): Kepa; James, Badiashile, Thiago Silva, Chilwell; Fernandez, Chukwuemeka; Mudryk, Nkunku, Sterling; Jackson.

Chelsea Opening Fixtures

Chelsea's opening six Premier League fixtures are as follows:

13th August 2023 - Liverpool (H)
20th August 2023 - West Ham (A)
25th August 2023 - Luton Town (H)
2nd September 2023 - Nottingham Forest (H)
17th September 2023 - Bournemouth (A)
23rd September 2023 - Aston Villa (H)

Chelsea - last five seasons

Season	League finish
2022/23	12th
2021/22	3rd
2020/21	4th
2019/20	4th
2018/19	3rd

View all Chelsea Premier League 2023/24 odds

Odds correct at time of publishing and subject to change.