Chelsea's Premier League schedule in 2022 has been quite stagnated due to the number of competitions the Blues have been in over the past few months. The FA Cup, Club World Cup, Carabao Cup and Champions League all halting the interest in the Blues league narrative.
It is also fair to point out that due to the title race effectively ending in mid-January when Chelsea lost 1-0 at The Etihad to Manchester City, the focus was always going to look at the potential of cup success over a third-place finish.
However, now with only the FA Cup on the 14th of May left outside the Premier League, Thomas Tuchel has a chance to achieve the highest points tally since the last title win in the 2016/17 season. Or, more realistically, match a feat reached by Jose Mourinho eight years ago.
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Since the last title win almost five years ago, Chelsea's final points tally in the league has ranged from 66 to 72. The lowest being in the 2019/20 season under Frank Lampard, with the highest under Maurizio Sarri the season before. In all of the previous four campaigns, Chelsea has been merely competing for Champions League qualification, with three of the seasons going to the final day.
This season, with eight games left, the highest total Chelsea can reach is 86, which would only be four of the 2016/17 total, one off the 2014/15 total where Chelsea were crowned champions too. The fact that this tally would now likely get Chelsea at best third reflects the high levels both Manchester City and Liverpool have reached since 2017.
Even if statistically Tuchel's squad may be favourites in all their remaining games, the congested nature of the schedule to catch up with the backlog of rescheduled games likely means the Blues will stumble at some point, but anything over the 80-point mark should be viewed as a significant improvement from a domestic point of view. A lower bar of 82 would very likely see a significant gap to fourth place and match the tally accomplished in the 2013/14 season under Jose Mourinho.
That season, Chelsea finished third behind ironically Liverpool and Manchester City, but only ended four points off the top on the final day. The small gap and confidence built sent the club into a productive summer which saw great additions in the transfer market that set Chelsea on a path under Mourinho to reclaim the title 12 months later.
The hope is that the final game at home to Watford on the 22nd of May will see a closing of the 19-point gap to first-placed Manchester City last May, giving new owners a platform to build from under Tuchel in what should prove to be a vitally important summer transfer window to make the right decisions.
Although supporters dreamed of a title charge this season, quickly getting away from the groundhog day slog for Champions League qualification was more realistic over the 38-games. Moving away from the chasing pack below and focusing on showing signs the gap to the top two can be closed in the coming years.
Chelsea's remaining league fixtures: Arsenal (H 20th Apri), West Ham (H 24th April), Man United (A 28th April), Everton (A 1st May), Wolves (H 7th May), Leeds (A 11th May), Leicester (H 19th May), Watford (H 22nd May).
