The win against Manchester United was much needed after a home loss to Tottenham and being knocked out of the Carabao Cup. It has pushed Chelsea up into fourth position.

Goals from Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer saw Chelsea get back to winning ways after a difficult week for Xabi Alonso. A home loss to Spurs is almost unforgivable, and then defeat to Liverpool on penalties.

But Chelsea got back to winning ways thanks to the magic of Morgan Rogers and Lisandro Martinez’s stupidity. Chelsea have 16 points, but where would they be with last season’s results, in the same fixtures?

How many points would Chelsea have with last season’s results?

Chelsea have secured five league wins from nine games this season, losing to Arsenal, Brentford and Tottenham. Three London clubs undoing the good work Chelsea have put in during their five victories.

Chelsea should have beaten Hull at Stamford Bridge, and they shouldn’t have lost to Tottenham. But otherwise, 16 points from nine games is a good start, with Champions League football the aim this term.

The only difference being that Chelsea didn’t play Hull in the Premier League last season. We will use the side that was promoted via the play-offs – like Hull this season – for 2025-26, which was Sunderland.

Where would Chelsea be with five points this time around?

Even aside from the Hull/Sunderland difference, there would be a 10-point swing. It highlights how bad Chelsea were last season, but also the difficult start to the campaign Chelsea have had under Alonso.

In turn, that shows just how well Chelsea have done to extract 16 points from their first nine games. That run includes Arsenal, Tottenham, Man United, Brighton and Bournemouth, even bogey team Everton.

The fact of the matter is, if Chelsea had five points from nine games – which they would have based on last season’s results – they would be joint-last with Sunderland. Instead, Alonso has them in fourth place.

That is an almighty swing of results and underlines just how much improvement Alonso has made since taking over at Chelsea. Gary Lineker has suggested there could be pressure on him. This should end that.

A win at Sunderland on the weekend would see Chelsea end a brilliant run of results, aside from the loss against Tottenham, between international breaks. The top-four aim is alive a quarter of the way in.