Predicting Jose Mourinho's Opening Chelsea Premier League XI
Less than three months ago, Chelsea were celebrating with the Premier League trophy along the King's Road.
Now the time has come where they have to defend that crown.
Chelsea's Premier League title defence starts this weekend against Swansea City at Stamford Bridge.
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And despite being the reigning champions, a lack of activity in the transfer market this summer has raised plenty of questions about whether or not manager Jose Mourinho and his players have what it takes to repeat their 2014/15 dominance.
All around them Chelsea's rivals have strengthened. Manchester City and Manchester United haven't been shy when it comes to signing cheques, while Arsenal have pinched Petr Cech to reinforce their defensive capabilities.
It all means Chelsea aren't going to have it their own way again, a fact Mourinho has alluded to on many occasions.
If Chelsea are to successfully defend their title, they will need to get off to the best possible start by beating Swansea on Saturday.
With few new names to call upon, we can expect the Chelsea XI to be very similar to the one that ended 2014/15.
So who starts? Bleacher Report takes a closer look...
The Goalkeeper
Now that Petr Cech has left Chelsea, any suggestion that Thibaut Courtois will not be the No. 1 at Stamford Bridge has gone with him.
The closest Cech's replacement, Asmir Begovic, will get to being first choice is the number on his back (Courtois has opted to keep No. 13 despite Cech vacating the No. 1 shirt).
Allowing Cech to leave was a massive statement of intent from Mourinho and the Chelsea board. Courtois played the majority of games last season, yet with Cech lingering in the background, the temptation to bring him back into the fold was always there.
If Courtois lost form, it would be an easy solution to reinstate Cech or give Courtois a rest throughout the season. That option no longer exists, and Courtois has been given the backing and support he has craved.
He's the undisputed custodian of the Stamford Bridge goal, with Begovic facing an uphill task to dislodge him.
Mourinho has too much invested in Courtois for him to fail, so the Belgian will be in the starting XI for this Saturday and beyond.
And regardless of the ghost of Cech, Courtois is an outstanding goalkeeper who would likely be No. 1 at every other club in the Premier League.
The Defence
Like with the goalkeepers at Chelsea, the departure of key personnel in defence makes it all the more clear who will be Mourinho's preferred back four in the opening weekend of Premier League action.
For much of 2014/15, we saw the familiar lineup of Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill, John Terry and Cesar Azpilicueta. Kurt Zouma and Filipe Luis played at various stages, but the former lineup was the manager's strongest defensive option.
That's not going to change anytime soon, especially now that the season has arrived and Chelsea are weaker when it comes to numbers.
Despite the rumours doing the rounds, Luis hasn't been replaced and reinforcements at centre-back are still to be made.
The Ivanovic-Cahill-Terry-Azpilicueta combination was the strongest in the Premier League last term, and with few options available to adapt that, Mourinho would be foolish to make any amendments.
The Midfield
Despite the winning combination in the midfield pivot of Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas, Mourinho has looked to shake things up somewhat in pre-season.
We've seen a few combinations tested, with Fabregas playing further forward in the No. 10 role and Matic being partnered by John Obi Mikel or Ramires at times.
The fact remains, though, that Chelsea are much more functional when Fabregas and Matic are a pair. They complement each other well, with Fabregas' class supported by the brawn of Matic.
Chelsea proved so lethal before Christmas last season because of this. Playing deeper, Fabregas had a real impact on Chelsea's forward movement, picking out the killer passes that unleashed Diego Costa on defences.
With just five pre-season games—including this week's clash with Fiorentina at Stamford Bridge—Chelsea haven't had enough time to refine any changes, which means Mourinho is likely to stick with the combinations that won him the Premier League title last term.
That also means the familiar attacking three of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian.
Victor Moses has caught the eye with some of his performances over the past couple of weeks, but it's difficult to imagine him being preferred over Oscar or Willian.
The same goes for Juan Cuadrado. The Colombian has a clean slate—we have to forget about his poor first six months at Chelsea if he's ever to produce the goods—but with such little time in pre-season, he hasn't had enough opportunities to suggest he can be any better than what we've seen from Chelsea's trio in attacking midfield.
As the season progresses, Mourinho will get a better idea of how things can work, yet right now on the eve of a new campaign, it's the old formula that is Chelsea's best option.
The Striker
With the arrival of Radamel Falcao this summer, there was a slight hint that Mourinho could be looking at a potential system change with his strikers.
From playing just one up front in his first two seasons back as Chelsea manager, he was reforming the Diego Costa-Falcao partnership that worked so well at Atletico Madrid a few years back.
That would mean Costa playing wider than we're used to seeing him in a Chelsea shirt, although with a three-week pre-season, the manager hasn't been afforded enough time to make that work.
It's why any suggestion of Chelsea adapting to a two-pronged front line is too soon. For now, it will be one striker leading the line, as we've seen throughout pre-season and in the Community Shield against Arsenal.
The question is which striker will get the nod?
Falcao and Loic Remy didn't do enough at Wembley to show they should be preferred over Costa, but with the latter struggling with his hamstrings again, Mourinho has a big decision to make.
Does the manager risk his best striker so early in the campaign? Or does he choose an alternative in Remy or Falcao—two players who don't look sharp enough to pose a significant threat?
The strikers are Chelsea's biggest weakness right now, as we simply don't know what they're going to produce, good or bad. And with the season all set to kick off, that has to be a concern.
Mourinho will want to defeat Swansea City on Saturday for many reasons, namely getting three points on the board at the earliest opportunity.
For that, he'll likely risk Costa so as to cause some early damage.
B/R's Predicted Chelsea XI
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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