1. Their defence
CHELSEA’S PROBLEMS IN attack have been well documented, however their defence is undoubtedly the best in the league and the statistics back that assertion up.
In total, they have conceded less goals than any other Premier League team — 23, compared to Man City’s 27, Arsenal’s 28 and Liverpool’s 35.
When asked whether they’d rather have a strong defence or attack, most managers would definitely go with the former — even the best strikers in the world can have an occasional off day, whereas a well-drilled backline will seldom let their teammates down.
Liverpool, Arsenal and City may have greater flair going forward, but Chelsea’s immense solidity makes them very difficult to beat — an integral asset, particularly in such pressurised circumstances as a title run-in.
2. Jose Mourinho
Neither Manuel Pellegrini nor Brendan Rodgers have any major trophy-winning experience, while it has been nine years since Arsene Wenger experienced such success.
In Jose Mourinho, Chelsea have the ideal person to guide them to the title — an individual who has tasted domestic success in four different countries, including twice in England, in addition to winning the Champions League on two occasions with limited resources at Porto and Inter respectively.
His countless accolades bring the type of reassurance to players that arguably no other manager in England currently enjoys.
At Manchester United, David Moyes is finding out just how difficult it is to earn players’ respect, whereas Mourinho automatically commands it, owing to his near-flawless track record.
With Pellegrini, Rodgers and even Wenger to a degree, this is unfamiliar territor, whereas for Mourinho, it’s just another title race and set of challenges that he has already successfully navigated on numerous occasions in the past.
3. Their home form
There are surely few football grounds more daunting to go to in the world at the moment than Stamford Bridge.
Quite incredibly, Chelsea have still never lost a home Premier League game with Mourinho in charge and unsurprisingly, they have won more points at home than any other side in the league this season.
Only West Brom and West Ham — two games that were both, in their own way, quite freakish — have come away from the Bridge with a point.
Moreover, their away form isn’t too bad either — their 1-0 defeat of City at the Etihad was a masterclass in counter-attacking football.
4. Their squad depth
Granted, unlike their rivals, Chelsea have to deal with the distraction of Champions League football. Nevertheless, they undoubtedly have the squad depth to cope with such demands. Surely, in fact, they have the best squad, if not necessarily the best team, in the league.
Much has been made of the fact that Liverpool haven’t had to concern themselves with the bittersweet burden of European football, but at the same time, they’ve been using virtually the same XI whenever possible — Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson among others will almost always play when available, whereas Chelsea have shown far more of a willingness to rotate their players.
Arsenal, meanwhile, badly miss key players when they’re out — they’ve looked significantly weaker owing to absences to stars such as Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Olivier Giroud at various points this season. Even Manchester City have shown that some of their second-choice players can at times be highly ineffectual, as demonstrated by their recent shock FA Cup loss to Wigan.
Up front, where Chelsea’s problems supposedly lie, Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o are all good if not great players.
In addition, the fact that footballers of the calibre of Ashley Cole and David Luiz have struggled to get games in their defence is telling, while in midfield, they have an embarrassment of riches, with Oscar, Nemanja Matić, Ramires, John Obi Mikel, Eden Hazard, Frank Lampard, Willian and André Schurrle all fine players who are more than capable of competing at the highest level.
5. Leadership and experience
Not one player in the current Arsenal squad has Premier League-winning experience.
For Liverpool, Daniel Sturridge and Glen Johnson both have league medals, but they were not exactly integral to Chelsea’s success at the time.
And City, though some of their players know what it’s like to lift the Premier League trophy, have at times been, not unreasonably, accused of a lack of leadership.
The well-known cliques in the Eastlands dressing room, which arguably cost Roberto Mancini his job last season, are surely still operating on some level. And in Yaya Toure, they have a player who perhaps epitomises both their strengths and weaknesses — enormously talented and capable of match-winning moments, but erratic and prone to having the occasional off day. After all, they are still more or less the same group of players that inexplicably failed to beat Wigan in the FA Cup final last year.
Chelsea, on the other hand, have no such susceptibility in this regard. In Petr Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard, they have an incomparably strong spine to their team. These players have effectively won everything they possibly can at club level and serve as the type of authoritative voices that everyone in the dressing will turn to in times of peril.
And perhaps more crucially, each of the aforementioned players are in the latter stages of their career. They know there may never be as great an opportunity for them to win the Premier League again and will therefore be desperate to prevail one last time.
