Chelsea enter a new Premier League season with a new manager once again this weekend, with Maurizio Sarri now in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues witnessed a late flurry of activity in the transfer market, signing Kepa Arrizabalaga and Mateo Kovacic while seeing Thibaut Courtois leave for Real Madrid, and travel to face Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
Huddersfield impressed last season by fighting against the odds to avoid relegation to the Championship but former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson believes they will provide no real challenge for Chelsea.
In his weekly Premier League predictions for the BBC, Lawrenson tipped Chelsea to secure a 2-0 win and said:
“Huddersfield basically swam the channel to stay up last season and I think the next few months are going to be a similar story for them. I know the Terriers have strengthened their squad, but they are not going to come out and play open attacking football, and I think they probably already know they will be fighting to keep their head above the water again.
“This might be a good time for them to play Chelsea, who are in a mess at the moment. The Blues at least managed to replace goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who is on his way to Real Madrid, but they look short up front with Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud.
“For their sake, I hope it does not quickly turn into a season where, a few weeks in, Eden Hazard starts to wonder why he did not also leave for Real.
“It is going to take their new manager Maurizio Sarri a while to settle in and sort things out, which is why I don’t think they will finish in the top four, but I am still backing them to win this game.”
