Chelsea have made a solid start to the season. They’re close enough to the top that a win against Everton could potentially put them into third place if results go their way.

In an increasingly balanced Premier League, the Blues are trying to emerge as a top team and to return to the Champions League. After a positive start to Xabi Alonso’s tenure, their chances of doing that look pretty good.

Swiss Bookies will show how much Chelsea’s odds have crept up despite a wobble before the international break. The numbers at the moment say that the Blues have around a 70% chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

Of course there is a huge wildcard factor in all this – Manchester City’s potential points penalties and relegation from the league after they were found guilty on 114 of their 115 charges. Nobody is quite sure how (or when) they’re going to be punished. Under normal circumstances, they’d be up there with Arsenal in the 95% certainly bracket. Their current implied odds has them down at 46%. So that difference has been soaked up by the other competitors. 

What that means is that Chelsea’s chances are probably closer to 60% than 70%. But that’s still good going. And if you’re going to bet on them, now is the time to do it. After a relatively soft start to the season, we play some good teams in the coming weeks, and some of those “six pointers” against other teams aiming for the top four swing the odds twice as hard.

After Everton, Xabi Alonso’s men take on Spurs, Man U and Liverpool in the next 6 weeks. It’s a big test of the development of this team, and will also have a big effect on the top four race. Spurs and Man U are struggling right now, and we can do huge damage to their dwindling Champions League hopes (as well as boosting our own) if we beat them.

Fans will still be wary, however. This time a year ago, things were looking good. The Blues were second in the table at the end of November. Then a draw with Arsenal sparked a run of one win in 9 in the league, culminating in the departure of Enzo Maresca.

Ultimately we finished so low in the table that we didn’t even get into the Conference League. So even if we have a strong 6 weeks from here, nobody will be talking about the Champions League just yet.