There was a certain inevitability about Chelsea’s opening day defeat by Manchester City - an immediate, if not entirely necessary, reminder of the gap Enzo Maresca had been employed to try to bridge.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s trip to Liverpool, Maresca insisted the performance against the champions remains the best of his Chelsea tenure so far. That, for all Chelsea were far from terrible, is surely kidology. Though the Blues had chances, the early goal to take control and then the second late on to clinch it made City's away victory about as textbook as they come.
In its specifics, too, came something for the ironists and comics: Mateo Kovacic, sold to City for £25million, scored the second goal and outshone a midfield trio that between them cost Chelsea more than ten times that fee.
The depiction of Chelsea as a rudderless, free-spending laughing stock, though, has been steadily eroded in the two months since as Maresca has streamlined and made sense of what now looks a balanced, workable squad, and brought an air of forgotten stability to Stamford Bridge.
His side, fourth in the table emerging from the second international break, are unbeaten in six Premier League matches and have been flawless in winning each of the three played away.
Now, though, comes a first opportunity since that City defeat to put Chelsea’s progress to a sterner test. Maresca’s team have not played any of last season’s top eight since that opening encounter, but now face four of them in successive weekends, starting at Anfield on Sunday.
Maresca was right in the build-up to insist that the next result will not define this autumn’s dawn as either false or the real thing. City have not won at Liverpool in three seasons and Arsenal not in 12. Both would probably settle for a point from their respective visits this term.
But Chelsea are at a stage in their development where performance speaks of progress, too. Clearly, a positive result would be monumental for Maresca, but even in defeat, his team can show they have advanced from that City loss, which felt so preordained.
Liverpool do not come with the same controlling, suffocating aura as City, one which made Maresca’s first assignment such a thankless one (and also something of a free hit). They have, though, in the month since Rodri’s season-ending knee injury, been the country’s best and most in-form team.
Maresca himself has insisted that, despite Chelsea’s encouraging start, this is not a meeting between title rivals: “I don’t see, in this moment, Chelsea as close to these kinds of clubs for many, many reasons”.
Though talk of Chelsea as outside contenders will ramp up should they emerge from Anfield with three points, it has for now been stunted by the 1-1 home draw with Nottingham Forest just before the international break. With Premier League standards as they are, fixtures like those - and at home to Crystal Palace - always feel must-win.
Talk of Chelsea as outside title contenders will ramp up should they emerge from Anfield with three points
The counter, of course, is that Liverpool lead the league despite having lost to Forest at Anfield, the one blip so far in an impressive start to Arne Slot’s regime.
The Reds are yet to prove they have staying power under the Dutchman and remain third favourites for the title, behind City and Arsenal. Last season, under Jurgen Klopp, they were in contention in early spring, only to fade badly and leave a three-horse race as a tussle between two.
For Liverpool, unlike Chelsea, victory is imperative, lest they almost certainly surrender top spot by week’s end. As for Maresca, this marks the start of a stiffer period for Slot, who takes his team to RB Leipzig in midweek and then to the Emirates next weekend.
