So here we all are again, on the brink of Chelsea’s 84th season in the top flight – the 30th in succession, and the 26th of the Premier League era. Strap in – it is going to be yet another exciting ride.

There will be 38 league matches for the Londoners between Saturday 11 August 2018 and Sunday 19 May 2019, plus a minimum of nine and maximum of 26, excluding replays, in the various cups.

Last season’s FA Cup triumph meant the Blues had managed year-on-year major silverware success yet again, adding to 1970-71, 1997-98, 2009-10, 2012-13, and 2005-07.

The great opportunity presenting itself to the Blues is to mastermind a third trophy-winning campaign on the spin, a feat achieved only once before in our history: that ’05-’07 spree.

Maurizio Sarri is the new man at the Bridge and he inherits a fantastic team and set-up, but faces a series of fresh challenges: a new country, second language and fresh club, key absences from the outset, and no mid-season break as he is used to (that finally comes to England in 2019/20).