Not only Chelsea and the other 18 Premier League clubs, but the entire English football pyramid is eagerly awaiting the final verdict on Manchester City’s 115 charges. The Premier League recently found City guilty on all 80 financial violation charges, including alleged sham sponsorships and artificially inflated revenues, and on 34 of the 35 non-cooperation and obstruction charges.

City have maintained their innocence and appealed the Premier League’s ruling, but they are not expected to succeed. Many have since speculated about the potential punishments, including fines, transfer bans, points deductions and expulsion from the Premier League.

According to the latest Daily Mail report, we are one step closer to learning City’s punishment. This means new Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso could be handed a golden opportunity to win the Premier League in his debut season at Stamford Bridge.

With Reece James injured AGAIN, is it time to strip him of the captaincy? 😕 If so, who are you giving it to?

No timeline has been given for his return…

How Chelsea could seize their chance to win the Premier League title if Man City are punished

Oliver Holt has reported that Manchester City will face a “huge points deduction” that will “guarantee relegation” from the Premier League this season. This suggests the deduction would need to be at least 70 points, as even a record-breaking points tally of 101 or more would probably not be enough to escape the bottom three. City could even receive a second points deduction next season, preventing an immediate promotion back to the Premier League.

One of the biggest takeaways from Man City’s reportedly imminent punishment would be that they could no longer win the title under Enzo Maresca this season. Having won seven of seven games to start the 2026/27 Premier League campaign, they would likely be the leading favourites or at least close to defending champions Arsenal, who are three points behind.

However, if you remove Man City from the picture and make Arsenal the league leaders on 18 points, the title race suddenly becomes wide open. Brighton would be second on 16 points, with Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea five points behind the Gunners with 21 games remaining. Liverpool would also be in the fight, a further point behind the Blues.

Of course, Arsenal would be the firm favourites to retain their title and potentially start a dynasty under Mikel Arteta. However, they will also be determined to win a domestic cup for the first time in seven years and seek Champions League revenge after losing last season’s final on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain.

With no European football, Alonso’s side would have a huge advantage over not only Arsenal but also Brighton and Liverpool in the potential title race. This gives the Blues a golden opportunity to win the league for the first time in 10 seasons, after Antonio Conte lifted the trophy in his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.

Alonso’s side are far from the finished article, but their attack is already considered one of the world’s best. Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and now Pedro Neto, after his impressive brace against Everton, provide more than enough firepower to get over the line. Meanwhile, it is still early days in the Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson central midfield experiment, but they have provided great balance. Not to mention, Alex Scott, Lamine Camara or another midfield star could arrive in the January transfer window.

The big question mark surrounding the Blues’ title aspirations will be their defence, especially with Emi Martinez and Reece James sidelined for a while. However, the clean sheet away to Everton should provide a springboard, with youngsters Mike Penders and Josh Acheampong appearing ready to grow into star players over the coming months.

It would be overly harsh to expect Alonso to lead his Chelsea side to the title this year, but if City are relegated and Arsenal retain the title with fewer than 85 points, it will go down as a missed opportunity. With London rivals Tottenham and Manchester United up next in the league, we will find out whether Chelsea have the bottle to take Arsenal the distance and capitalise on City’s points deduction this season.