2021–22 Chelsea F.C. season

On 11 August 2021, Chelsea started off the season by beating Villarreal to win the 2021 UEFA Super Cup. Hakim Ziyech opened the scoring before Gerard Moreno equalized in the second half; after extra time the score remained 1–1. In the final minute of the match, Thomas Tuchel made the decision to replace goalkeeper Édouard Mendy with Kepa Arrizabalaga. Chelsea went on to win 6–5 on penalties, with Arrizabalaga making the decisive save against Raúl Albiol.[2] Following the match, Thomas Tuchel stated: "We were well-prepared. We had a statistic that Kepa is the best in terms of saving penalties. The analysts showed me the data and then we spoke with the players [explaining] that this can happen in knockout games."[3] It was the second time that Chelsea had won the trophy, the first win being in 1998, and the third time that the club was involved in a penalty shoot-out in the competition.[4]

The following day, Chelsea announced that Romelu Lukaku had re-signed for the club, seven years after leaving, for a reported club record fee of £97.5 million.[5][6] Although initial offers were turned down by Inter Milan, Chelsea's third offer for Lukaku was accepted. "I only realised that Chelsea was serious at the third offer," Lukaku stated. "It went to €110m, and I knew, this is truly serious." He continued, "If they ask me, why would I say no? Everyone knows what Chelsea means to me."[7]

Chelsea began the Premier League season with two consecutive wins in London derbies, first at home against Crystal Palace and then at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal.[8][9] In the former, Premier League debutant Trevoh Chalobah scored the final goal in a 3–0 win with a low right-footed shot from well outside the penalty area.[8] In the latter, new signing Romelu Lukaku scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win on his second debut for the club.[9]

On 28 August, Chelsea travelled to Anfield to take on Liverpool in a match that was billed as an early test for two title contenders.[10] Kai Havertz opened the scoring off a corner kick with a looping near-post header that spiraled over goalkeeper Alisson.[11] In the first half stoppage time, Reece James was sent off after referee Anthony Taylor consulted the VAR and adjudged that James had used his arm to prevent a goal. Mohammed Salah scored the ensuing penalty despite furious protests from Chelsea players. In the second half, Chelsea defended deeply and compactly and the match finished 1–1.[12]

On 31 August, transfer deadline day, Chelsea signed Saúl from Atlético Madrid on a season-long loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.[13] The future fee is reported to be €40 million.[14] Throughout the transfer window, Chelsea were linked with a move for Sevilla centre-back Jules Koundé, although it never materialized.[15][16] The transfer window also saw several notable departures, including Olivier Giroud, Tammy Abraham, and Kurt Zouma.[17][18][19] Furthermore, Chelsea sold several promising youth academy products, including Marc Guéhi, Tino Livramento, and Ike Ugbo.[20][21][22]

Marcos Alonso was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award in August, which was eventually given to West Ham's Michail Antonio.[23][24] Thomas Tuchel was also nominated for Premier League Manager of the Month, but it was awarded to Tottenham's Nuno Espírito Santo.[25][26]

Chelsea started September with back-to-back 3–0 wins against Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and a 1–0 win against Zenit in the Champions League.[27][28][29] After five matchdays in the Premier League, Chelsea and Liverpool coincidentally shared identical records, with Chelsea ahead based on the away goals head-to-head tiebreaker following their meeting on Matchday 3.[30] On 22 September, Chelsea faced Aston Villa again in the EFL Cup, winning 4–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.[31] Kepa Arrizabalaga made a decisive save against a spot kick from Marvelous Nakamba, which led him to become Chelsea's most successful goalkeeper at saving penalties during shootouts, passing Petr Čech.[32] Both matches against Aston Villa saw debuts, first in the Premier League for Saúl and in the EFL Cup for Malang Sarr.[27][31]

On 25 September, Chelsea faced off against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. Manchester City dominated possession and employed a high press throughout the match, with Gabriel Jesus scoring the game's only goal in the 53rd minute. The 1–0 defeat was Chelsea's first loss of the season.[33] Following the match, Thomas Tuchel stated "The performance was not complex enough. Overall, simply, we were not at our best level."[34] It was the first time that Chelsea were beaten by Manchester City under Tuchel, with Pep Guardiola winning for the first time after three consecutive defeats in the previous season, including in the Champions League Final.[35]

On 29 September, Chelsea suffered their first Champions League defeat of the season, losing 0–1 to Juventus in Turin. Federico Chiesa scored the game's only goal just after halftime. Although Chelsea enjoyed a majority of possession in the game, Juventus defended deeply and created several chances on the counter-attack.[36] Chelsea ended the month of September with only three goals conceded in six matches. Chelsea's successful defensive performances led to Antonio Rüdiger being nominated for Premier League Player of the Month, though it was eventually awarded to Cristiano Ronaldo.[37][26]

Chelsea began October with a 3–1 win against Southampton. After an early goal from Trevoh Chalobah, James Ward-Prowse equalised from the penalty spot before he was sent off in the 77th minute. Chelsea rallied to win with two late goals from Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell, who scored with a close-range left-footed volley in his first start in the Premier League during the season.[38][39] On 16 October, Chelsea beat Brentford 1–0 in the first iteration of this West London derby in the modern Premier League era. Chilwell scored for the second consecutive game, while Mendy made four crucial saves to preserve a clean sheet.[40] Chelsea played their third Champions League group stage match on 20 October against Malmö, winning 4–0. Jorginho scored two penalties and Andreas Christensen scored his first career goal for Chelsea after 137 appearances. However, both Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner were injured during the match.[41]

On 23 October, Chelsea beat Norwich City 7–0 in the Premier League with Mason Mount scoring his first ever senior hat trick. The 7–0 win was the joint second highest scoreline in Chelsea's Premier League history.[42] Ben Chilwell scored for the fourth consecutive Premier League match, becoming the first Chelsea player to do so since Eden Hazard.[43] Goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James meant that 17 different players had scored for Chelsea in all competitions.[44] On 26 October, Chelsea took on Southampton at home in the EFL Cup round of 16. Kai Havertz and Ché Adams scored the only goals of the game, with Chelsea going on to win 4–3 on penalties.[45] Chelsea ended the month of October with a 3–0 win against Newcastle United at St. James' Park. After a goalless first half, Reece James scored two goals from the far-right corner of the penalty area, the first of which was a left-footed half-volley.[46]

Chelsea ended the month of October with a 1–0 win away against Malmö, with Hakim Ziyech scoring the winner.[47] Ben Chilwell was nominated for Premier League Player of the Month, and Thomas Tuchel was nominated for Premier League Manager of the Month for the second time.[48]

November began with Trevoh Chalobah signing a contract extension through 2026. "It's quite surreal," Chalobah said. "It's a dream for me to sign a new long-term contract for my boyhood club and hopefully the dream continues. It's been an unbelievable start to the season and something I never expected but it just shows that the hard work I've put in and going out on loans has paid off."[49]

On 6 November, Chelsea drew Burnley 1–1, with Kai Havertz scoring the opening goal before Matěj Vydra equalized.[50] It was only the third time of the season that Chelsea dropped points in the Premier League. Entering into the international break, Chelsea were in first place in the Premier League, three points clear of second place Manchester City.[51] Throughout the month of November, Chelsea was reported to be in negotiations with Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen over new contracts. Speaking about the negotiations, Thomas Tuchel said, "I feel the situation is calm here inside and from here we go." He went on, "You can end up in situations like this but the situations are handled from all sides very carefully, professionally and mature."[52]

Chelsea returned from the international break on 20 November to beat Leicester City 3–0 at the King Power Stadium. N'Golo Kanté scored a long-rage goal from outside of the penalty area against his former team and substitute Christian Pulisic scored after returning from a lengthy ankle injury.[53]

On 24 November, Chelsea took on Juventus in a crucial Champions League group stage match. Heading into Matchday 5, Chelsea were second in Group H, three points behind the Italian side after losing in Turin on Matchday 2. Chelsea needed to win by a margin of two goals or more to move to the top of the group leading into the final matchday due to Juventus' superior goal difference. From the opening whistle, Chelsea employed an extremely attacking approach, with the five defenders playing an extremely high line and the forwards aggressively pressuring the ball in Juventus' half. Trevoh Chalobah scored the game's opener off a corner kick to put Chelsea 1–0 up. Five minutes later, Thiago Silva cleared a shot from former Chelsea player Álvaro Morata off the line with a dramatic overhead kick to preserve the one-goal advantage at the break. In the second half, Chelsea scored two goals in two minutes from Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi before Timo Werner made it 4–0 in stoppage time.[54] The win was Chelsea's largest ever in a competitive fixture against Juventus and guaranteed their progression to the knockout rounds of the Champions League.[55]

The following Sunday, Chelsea took on Manchester United, who had recently sacked manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Despite having almost two-thirds of the possession, Chelsea could only manage a 1–1 draw. Jorginho's heavy touch allowed Jadon Sancho to score the game's opener, but he later converted a penalty to level the score line.[56] Chelsea began the busy December period with a match against Watford. Players had to leave the pitch for 25 minutes due to a medical incident in the Graham Taylor Stand at Vicarage Road. Paramedics rushed onto the pitch about 12 minutes into the game to treat a supporter, who was taken to a local hospital and later reported to be in stable condition.[57] Chelsea went on to win the game 2–1, courtesy of goals from Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech.[58]

On July 14, Chelsea announced they would visit Championship side Bournemouth on 27 July for a pre-season friendly.[152] Prior to this, they would face Peterborough United in a behind-closed-doors friendly at their Cobham Training Centre.[153]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

Chelsea v Peterborough United

17 July 2021	Chelsea	6–1	Peterborough United	Cobham, Surrey
11:00 BST	Abraham Pulisic  (pen.) Ziyech Broja	Report	Dembélé  (pen.)	Stadium: Cobham Training Centre Attendance: 0

Bournemouth v Chelsea

27 July 2021	Bournemouth	1–2	Chelsea	Kings Park
19:45 BST	Marcondes  66'	Report	Broja  71' Ugbo  76'	Stadium: Vitality Stadium

Chelsea v Weymouth

15 August 2021	Chelsea	13–0	Weymouth	Cobham, Surrey
12:30 BST	Hudson-Odoi Batshuayi Barkley Emerson Thiago Silva James	Report		Stadium: Cobham Training Centre Attendance: 0

Chelsea v Brentford B

25 August 2021	Chelsea	1–0	Brentford B	Cobham, Surrey
	Unknown	Report		Stadium: Cobham Training Centre Attendance: 0

Mind Series

The Blues were confirmed to take part in a first-of-its-kind Mind Series to support mental health in August 2021.[155]

Arsenal v Chelsea

1 August 2021	Arsenal	1–2	Chelsea	Highbury
15:00 BST	Xhaka  69' Tavares  86'	Report	Havertz  26' Kovačić  42' Zappacosta  54' Abraham  72'	Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Andre Marriner

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur

4 August 2021	Chelsea	2–2	Tottenham Hotspur	London
19:45 BST	Ziyech  16', 49'	Report	Lucas  56' Bergwijn  70'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Referee: Keith Stroud