The Story of Chelsea’s Premier League Christmas No. 1s

Call it an omen, but Chelsea are top of the Premier League table for Christmas. When that happens, they always win the title. It happened in 2004/05, 2005/06, 2009/10 and when the Blues were last champions in 2014/15.

The big question now is whether Antonio Conte’s side can go on to make it a clean sweep, with five out of five. Currently on a run of 11 wins in a row, the expectation is that they will. Chelsea have already set a club record with those successive victories that have moved them six points clear of their closest rivals, Liverpool.

There seems to be no stopping them, especially as teams struggle to cope with the 3-4-3 system that has bred confidence in the squad as well as striking fear into opponents.

Both Manchester clubs, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur have fallen foul of Chelsea’s new-found approach. Now, with so-called favourable fixtures over the festive period against Bournemouth and Stoke City at home, Chelsea are expected to extend their run to reinforce their position as title favourites.

Conte will err on the side of caution in that regard. Speaking this week ahead of the Bournemouth clash on Boxing Day, he explained how he feels uneasy with his side being described as such.

“I prefer to be favourites on the pitch, not with words,” he said. “You can change who is favourites very quickly with words. Chelsea are an example of that. At the start of the season, we were anything but favourites. But now, after 11 wins in a row, we are becoming favourites for the title, with work.

“I’d prefer to be favourites on the pitch with good results, good performances, with good football, to keep clean sheets, to show great passion with my players. It’s important, this.”

Conte’s sentiments are simple to decipher; there is no hidden meaning. It comes down to a simple thing for him, which is the work ethic of his players. If Chelsea continue to apply themselves the way they have, it’s that which will make them favourites to go all the way.

It’s not about words or the festive fixture list, yet alongside that team ethic that he has championed since taking over at Stamford Bridge, Conte does have something else on his side: history.

Being guided by the ghost of Christmas Past, Bleacher Report takes a walk down memory lane to reflect on Chelsea’s previous festive No. 1s.

The Year of the Special One: 2004/05

If we’re looking for trends and how Chelsea’s past is impacting their present and future, the 2004/05 campaign is rather apt. Not only was it Jose Mourinho’s first year in charge as Chelsea boss, but the run of games that saw his team pull away as league leaders was rather similar to what we have seen now under Conte.

In September it was back-to-back defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal that saw the change. Conte had seen enough by playing a formation that was kind to the old guard. The four-man defence gave Branislav Ivanovic a starting place and also favoured John Terry.

It wasn’t working, though. Chelsea were disjointed and only second best against their rivals. Liverpool taught them a lesson at Stamford Bridge when they dominated the game to win 2-1. A week later, Arsenal did the same, but this time it ended up 3-0 to the Gunners.

With Manchester City eight points clear, it seemed the title was a foregone conclusion for Chelsea. But the switch flicked, Conte felt inspired and now, almost three months on, the feeling is that the title is a foregone conclusion—this time for the rest of the Premier League.

It’s been as impressive as it is remarkable. It shows Conte’s ability as a coach to understand everything before him and also adapt to his surroundings. He’s proving how intelligent he is as a manager.

Over a decade ago, Mourinho did something similar. It wasn’t as dramatic as a formation change, yet the Chelsea boss used defeat to Manchester City in October to inspire a title charge. Having watched his team lose 1-0 at Eastlands, Chelsea slipped to five points behind Arsenal. Arsene Wenger’s men were the Invincibles, and we expected they would pull away from there.

Instead, Chelsea reined them in and, come Christmas, were five points clear at the top.

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