Predicting Final Premier League 2017/18 Table After Transfer Deadline
3. Chelsea
Antonio Conte is understood to be very frustrated with Chelsea’s failure to land his top targets. Romelu Lukaku, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley, and Fernando Llorente all slipped through his fingers. Three went to title rivals.
His intolerance of Diego Costa has heaped the pressure on £70m signing Alvaro Morata. He has started promisingly, with two goals in three matches.
But there is little excitement about the rest of Chelsea’s arrivals and they lack the depth to keep pace with the Manchester clubs, and compete in Europe. Conte has his team incredibly well drilled, but has his work cut out with this title defence.