/ Editor / 23 June 2007 /

Chelsea are perhaps the only Premiership team to view a domestic cup double as a poor return for a season. Successive league titles in 2004/05 and 2005/06 set a standard that was not met last season and the recapturing of the Premiership crown will be the minimum requirement this term.

Winning the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley leaves José Mourinho with the Champions League as the one notable gap in his Chelsea CV. His triumph with FC Porto in 2004 secured his move to Stamford Bridge, but three seasons in west London have brought two semi-final appearances and one quarter-final disappointment.

Tensions became strained between manager and owner last term and Mourinho can still be backed at 7.2 to have vacated the Stamford Bridge hot seat by the time the Blues kick-off the new season against Birmingham City on August 11.

The 'Special One' was left unimpressed by a pretty ordinary January transfer fund, and although not securing the big names that were captured last summer, he has strengthened his squad in every department.

Injuries left the Pensioners particularly short defensively last term and so the arrival of Tal Ben Haim on a free transfer from Bolton Wanderers will provide much-needed cover. Khalid Boulahrouz had a disappointing first season and might be offloaded, but the protracted permit wrangle over PSV Eindhoven's Brazilian star Alex shows no sign of ending.

Chelsea have not spent a penny on any of their three summer signings and they will hope to receive greater value for money than they got from those who were signed in time for the last campaign. Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole arrived with great fanfare, but had underwhelming first seasons.

Midfielder Steve Sidwell joins from Reading after an impressive debut Premiership season, whilst Claudio Pizarro makes the switch from Bayern Munich after enjoying six fruitful years with the German giants. Only six players scored more Champions League goals than the Peruvian last season.

Chelsea were in the hunt for four trophies until the beginning of May and with the African Nations Cup on the horizon, the need for strength in depth is even greater. Key players such as Didier Drogba and Michael Essien, as well as Jon Obi Mikel, Geremi and Salomon Kalou, are likely to be absent for a month in late January, so a larger squad is required if another four-pronged trophy assault is to be launched.

Just as important as the new signings has been the retention of the big names. Frank Lampard - 11 league goals in 37 appearances last term - was linked with a move to a big European rival but he will begin his seventh season at the Bridge.

Arjen Robben had a less productive season, making only 16 Premiership starts in an injury-hit campaign, but the flying Dutchman will surely be given more chances to show the form he produced in the 2005/06 title-winning season. Joe Cole's return to full fitness will feel like a new signing for Mourinho, as the England winger made just three league starts.

Shevchenko's proposed return to AC Milan has not materialised and the Ukrainian's difficult first season was the public representation of the power struggle and uneasy relationship between Mourinho and Roman Abramovich.
Shevchenko managed just four Premiership goals in 30 appearances and he must settle quickly this term in order to ease the pressure on the prolific Drogba, the division's top scorer last season.

Drogba and Lampard scored 48.44% of Chelsea's league goals last season and the team's total of 64 was their lowest return since the 1999/2000 campaign. Mourinho's recent purchases do not hint at a switch to a brand of more attacking football, so their title challenge is likely on built on a defensive base that conceded the fewest goals last term (24) and kept the most clean sheets (22).

Ten of those clean sheets came in a 14-match unbeaten run at the end of the season. The Blues drew their last five matches but are nonetheless well placed to break a top-flight record. Should they avoid defeat against Birmingham in their opener, they will have stretched their unbeaten home sequence to 64, going clear of Liverpool's record that was set between 1978 and 1981.

Manchester United showed the benefit of making a good league start last term. The Red Devils won 11 of their first 13 matches and did not relinquish top spot after gaining it in October.

Chelsea will have visited Liverpool and United by the end of September and can therefore make an early statement in their bid to regain the title. They once again have an April appointment with Sir Alex Ferguson's men at Stamford Bridge, and although the corresponding clash this year was not crucial, punters expect the title race to go to the wire this time around.

Mourinho's outfit are available at 2.64 in the Premiership winner's market, with United trading at 2.66. Despite front-running for the whole of last season, United were never clear favourites, due largely to Chelsea's dominance of the title race for the previous two years. The 'big four' might be becoming a 'big two' - Liverpool and Arsenal, early casualties in last season's title race, are currently on offer at 8 and 12 respectively.

The 'big four' are now united in being seeded for the Champions League. Chelsea have accrued enough coefficient points to avoid fellow seeds AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid in the group stages.

The Blues have not had favourable draws over the last three seasons, having shared a group with the previous year's winner on each occasion. They have been knocked out by one of the eventual finalists each time and Blues fans - as well as the club's owner - will expect the addition of the Champions League trophy to a European cabinet that contains only two Cup Winners Cup prizes.

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