If Graham Potter needed a warning of just how poor of a start to a season this has been for Chelsea, they have won three matches from the eight played. They have scored nine goals in that time and conceded 11. This is just the surface of a glum open to the season, though.
Not only were Potter's Brighton above Chelsea with 13 points from six matches - as opposed to the 10 points Thomas Tuchel took from the opening half a dozen - the Seagulls were sitting nicely in the top four and have only lost one of their six, winning four and scoring 11.
Potter is yet to manage a league game for his new side and will have been disappointed with the Champions League debut draw against RB Salzburg that left Chelsea's group stage qualification far from straightforward and he has, other than taking on a hugely talented squad, inherited a mess.
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Chelsea are in transition on and off the pitch and faith has been put in Potter to restore calm. This isn't expected to come immediately but if it doesn't then there will be a long way to come back in terms of season objectives. It's only been six matches - seven for some - but the gap between Chelsea and those above them looks huge.
The best way to show this is that even in the three matches won under Tuchel before he was sacked, the victories weren't convincing and came against poor sides, too. Aside from their clashes against the Stamford Bridge side, West Ham, Leicester and Everton have a combined 12 points from 18 games. The Hammers and the Foxes are both in the bottom three, Everton have won just one match - against West Ham - and Leicester prop up the league with just one point in seven matches.
Winning 1-0 away at Goodison Park on the opening day of the season remains the only away victory of the campaign so far. Since then Chelsea have played Leeds, Southampton and Dinamo Zagreb without picking up a point. They've conceded six goals in those matches and scored just once.
Chelsea scrapped to a 2-1 victory over Leicester and West Ham despite their consistent struggles so far this season and, in a league table with the three sides beaten by Chelsea combined, the 12 points from 18 games would put them level with fifth placed Manchester United. This is far from a statement of tough opening fixtures.
Chelsea, even in the early season table, have played against one top half side - Tottenham, with both Leeds and Southampton also in the bottom half despite beating the Blues. There is, of course, a long way to go and Potter has ample time to make a mark and start the rebuild this season. Although that will be hard to achieve quickly with fixture congestion, the international break, winter World Cup disruption and pure amount of change needed, Potter could still manage more than 55 Chelsea games this season. It's not all decided yet; we haven't even gotten out of September.
The problem is that the problems really are as big as they look at Chelsea and in some cases they're bigger than they seem. They also face another bottom half side in Crystal Palace next and still have five of the top 10 to play before Christmas. It may well get worse before it gets better at Stamford Bridge.
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