Chelsea could already be fighting a losing battle to retain Premier League title after losing first match, say the stats
Through the past ten years only one team has ever won the top flight after sitting outside the top four after five games
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CHELSEA could already be fighting a losing battle to retain Premier League title after losing their first match, according to the stats.
Antonio Conte's Blues lost their season opener 3-2 at the hands of Burnley.
Having gone 3-0 down and seen two players sent off, Chelsea rallied in the second half, but still came up short in the first game of their Premier League defence.
But they will need to turn things around quickly if they are to defend their title, according to stats from .
After all, only THREE of the past 100 champions across the "Big Five" leagues have won the title after sitting in the bottom half after five games.
In the Premier League, just ONE club has won the league title after sitting outside the top six after five games - Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.
Fergie masterminded a late charge three times - in 2002-03, 2007-08 and 2008-09.
However, the league title might not be the only struggle for Chelsea, as they now face a battle to even reach the Champions League.
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Over half of teams to break into the top four through the past ten seasons have been in the top four after the first five games.
In fact, should Chelsea's struggles continue they are really up against the odds, as only ONE per cent of top four finishers have been in the bottom ten after five matches.
Only Liverpool in the 1999-2000 season have managed the feat - going from 11th to fourth that year.
Meanwhile, teams in the bottom three after five games see themselves relegated a sky-high 42 per cent of the time.
On top of that, only eight per cent of teams relegated from the Premier League have been in the top half after five games - meaning 92 per cent of the time, a bad start could see you struggling.
Only Norwich (2015-16) and Blackpool (2010-11) have faced the drop after a strong start.
One thing is for sure, if Conte wants to avoid "another Jose Mourinho season" as he put it, he'll need to put some wins together... and quickly.