Chelsea have gone through one of the toughest Premier League campaigns in the last decade last season when they finished as low as 12th in the top flight of English football. The fact that the team have scored no more than 38 goals in 38 matches says enough about a dismal run they’ve had throughout the entire campaign. The Blues were especially dreadful in the second half of the season when the fans and the experts believed in their success on the back of numerous costly signings during the winter transfer window.
As such, Chelsea’s players were practically at the very bottom of anyone’s preferred Fantasy Premier League options. They have entered the season with hefty prices as the game creators expected much more from the team. Nonetheless, they by no means justified these price tags. Will we see a different scenario in the upcoming season, especially now that the prices have been adjusted accordingly based on the last year’s performances?
We have discussed with the experts at bettingpicks4you.com the potential for Chelsea’s FPL options to go big this year and to possibly make a massive difference for your respective Fantasy teams against your rivals in mini-leagues. Stay tuned and find out everything about Chelsea ahead of the 2023/24 FPL season.
Horrendous statistical parameters for 2022/23
We will start by reminding ourselves of how poor the Blues have been last season, according to most of the important parameters relevant to FPL. As many as 14 other Premier League teams have scored more than Chelsea’s 38 goals last year. The Blues were not inside the top 7 in the league in any of the following parameters:
- Shots – 484
- Shots on target – 154
- Shots in the box – 323
- Big Chances – 71
- Expected goals (xG) – 48.77
- Non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) – 46.41
Their 38 goals for the season represented only half of the goals they managed to score in the previous Premier League campaign when they notched 76. It was also the worst attacking season for the Blues in the last 99 years in the elite tier of English football.
At first glance, it is easy to find a legit reason for such a devastating campaign. The answer would be the lack of a proper striker. As you know, Kai Havertz was forced to play as a No 9 for pretty much the whole season and he did not have the best of campaigns there. The German attacking midfielder had the weakest individual xG delta in the entire league.
Only three players went above 100 points last year
Anyone who has played FPL last season could easily guess the highest-scoring Chelsea player for the 2022/23 campaign. It was goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga by some distance, scoring 118 points. Kepa featured in 29 games, keeping nine clean sheets in the process. Interestingly, Edouard Mendy managed just a single clean sheet in ten appearances for the Blues last time out.
The other two outfielders, both of whom barely went above 100 points, were Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling. The former had 7 goals and 1 assist in 35 appearances for 102 FPL points while the latter managed 6 goals and 3 assists to collect 101 points at the end of the season. It is, however, worth noting that Raheem Sterling only started 23 games in the season. We all know how dangerous the former Man City winger can be in the final third and he is certainly the one with the capacity of going big in any given season. The next one could easily be the one for the English national team regular.
Prices for the 2023/24 season
The highest-priced Chelsea FPL asset for the 2023/24 season is a newcomer. This says enough about the outfit’s efforts in the previous campaign. His name is Christopher Nkunku and he has indeed enjoyed a marvelous campaign for RB Leipzig in the last several seasons in the top flight of German football.
Nkunku bagged 16 goals and delivered 6 assists in 25 appearances for the German outfit in the Bundesliga. He added three goals and an assist in seven Champions League games, as well as three goals and an assist in three DFK Pokal outings last year. The French international comes in as a forward in FPL who have priced him at £7.5 million. Make no mistake, this would normally be a bargain price for a Chelsea forward but we must be careful after the last year’s experience. After all, the Blues begin the season with a couple of tougher fixtures (including the clash against Liverpool on the opening day at Stamford Bridge) followed by a phenomenal run of games. We can use the opening two outings to monitor the entire team, save a transfer, and then bring two of their assets for the mentioned run.
Next up is another newcomer Nicolas Jackson who arrived at Stamford Bridge from Spanish La Liga side Villarreal. He scored 12 goals and delivered 4 assists in 26 La Liga appearances for El Submarino Amarillo last time out and is expected to make an immediate impact on this Chelsea team as a proper No 9. The Senegalese forward comes in at a £7.0 million price tag. Much like Nkunku, he could be a phenomenal option at this price, depending on the minutes he gets from new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Romelu Lukaku is worth the same but he is not an option for Chelsea at the moment, hence we will not count on him seriously for now. There is, however, one more player with the same price, but much more worth mentioning. He is Raheem Sterling, the most expensive Chelsea midfielder for the 2023/24 FPL season. We all know everything about Sterling and he could easily be the standout option for our fantasy teams in the new season if he manages to find the old form.
We will conclude the list with the likes of Mykhailo Mudryk, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Malo Gusto, and Kepa Arrizabalaga. They can all potentially be massive bargains at their price tags, especially Chilwell and James who have come in at a £5.5 million price tag each. We know how offensive-minded and dangerous they can be in the final third.
At the end of the day, we must say there is a huge value to be found among the aforementioned Chelsea assets ahead of the new season. If you are brave enough to start with three Blues in your squad, you can easily launch yourself to the stars if Chelsea get off to a bright beginning of the season under Mauricio Pochettino.
