For 2024/25, the 38 league matchweeks will take place over 33 weekends, four midweeks and one Bank Holiday.

UEFA Conference League involvement will likely mean eight or more Thursday/Sunday (or Monday) arrangements for the Blues. That rests on the Londoners overcoming Servette over two play-off legs on 22 and 29 August.

Fixtures

Enzo Maresca’s early progress will be easy to chart as five of the Blues’ first nine top-flight matches will be televised live in the UK – starting with Manchester City at the Bridge on the opening weekend.

Opening Premier League fixtures (1992-2023)

FIFA international match breaks are scheduled for 2-10 September, 7-15 October, 11-19 November and 17-25 March.

Summer international honours

European Championship
Winner – Marc Cucurella (Spain)
Runners-up – Conor Gallagher, Cole Palmer (England)

Copa America
Winner – Enzo Fernandez (Argentina)

As the FA Cup third round has been moved from its traditional home on the first weekend of January to the second, it seems there will be four rounds of fixtures over the festive period, starting on 21 December and ending on 5 January.

Assuming the Blues win our Conference League play-off tie, either side of the away league game at Wolverhampton Wanderers, group matches will be played on 3 and 24 October, 7 and 28 November, and 12 and 19 December.

Our UEFA involvement means later entry to the Carabao Cup than last season – in round three this time around.

Pre-season friendly matches

Chelsea 2-2 Wrexham, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
Chelsea 1-4 Celtic, Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, Indiana
Chelsea 3-0 Club America, Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Chelsea 2-4 Manchester City, Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Chelsea 1-2 Real Madrid, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
Chelsea 1-1 Inter Milan, Stamford Bridge, London

30 players have been used in pre-season games:

Minutes (max 560)
Nkunku 457, Gusto 413, Madueke 398, Colwill 386, Lavia 381, Sanchez 358, Guiu 355, Badiashile 351, James 335, Enzo 297, Sterling 279, Adarabioyo 270, Mudryk 235, Fofana 226, Dewsbury-Hall 198, Ugochukwu 146, Jorgensen 143, Chukwuemeka 139, Caicedo 126, Veiga 87, Broja 77, Santos 71, Chilwell 69, Angelo 68, George 63, Bergstrom 58, Acheampong 47, Cucurella 46, Palmer 46, Jackson 35

Scorers
Madueke 3 (1 pen), Nkunku 3 (2 pens), Ugochukwu 2, Guiu 1, Sterling 1

Assists
Lavia 2, Broja 1, Dewsbury-Hall 1, Enzo 1, Guiu 1, Madueke 1, Nkunku 1, Sterling 1

What’s new: The Premier League

England’s top-flight campaign will start and finish a week later than 2023/24, to allow extra rest for all those involved in summer internationals.

Last season, for first time since 1997/98 and only the second occasion in Premier League history, all three promoted clubs – Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United – went down after a one-season stand.

This season’s new arrivals are Ipswich Town (relegated in 2002), Leicester City and Southampton (both 2023). In our most recent league skirmishes with those clubs, Chelsea scooped all six points from the Foxes, claimed four against the Tractor Boys, but lost home and away to the Saints.

All-time points in the Premier League

All-time wins in the Premier League

Manchester United 744
Arsenal 673
Liverpool 652
Chelsea 647
Tottenham Hotspur 540
Manchester City 529
Everton 439

What’s new: Conference League

Famously, by winning the FIFA Club World Cup in 2022, Chelsea became the latest club that’s won it all in international football – in good company alongside Ajax, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Manchester United.

Now the Londoners have the opportunity to break ahead of that illustrious pack on major individual UEFA trophies won, as well as blazing a trail in the freshly-modified Conference League.

Conference League match dates

Play-off first leg - 22 August
Play-off second leg - 29 August
Matchday 1 - 3 October
Matchday 2 - 24 October
Matchday 3 - 7 November
Matchday 4 - 28 November
Matchday 5 - 12 December
Matchday 6 - 19 December

The Conference League is in its fourth season overall but the first without the ‘Europa' prefix in its title.

The name simplification coincides with a format change from the previous six matches home and away against three group opponents. Instead, each club will face six different opponents drawn from a new 36-club league.

That phase ends in December as usual, after which the eight top-ranked clubs qualify for the Round of 16, while those finishing in places 9 to 24 must first enter a play-off round.

The final will be played in picturesque Wroclaw, Poland, on Wednesday 28 May 2025.

What’s new: Club World Cup

We already know what we’re doing next summer. For a month in June and July 2025, the Blues will revisit the USA to contest the FIFA Club World Cup – a familiar competition in a vastly revamped setting.

For the first time, FIFA’s flagship club competition will pit 32 of the world’s most successful teams against each other over four weeks.

Eight groups of four clubs will face other once, with the two top-ranked sides entering traditional knockout ties, beginning in the round of 16.

The final is on 13 July 2025. Host cities are yet to be announced, but the tournament will be played on the East Coast of the USA.

International trophies won by English clubs

What’s new: FA Cup

The 144th edition of this competition brings considerable changes, with no replays after the first round proper, which now starts in the second week of January.

All rounds will be played over a weekend and the final is to be staged ahead of the penultimate batch of Premier League fixtures.

The fourth round will also range from Friday to Wednesday, allowing more extensive live TV coverage.

Chelsea will enter the fray at the third round, with the draw expected to take place in early December.

FA Cup round dates

Third round - Saturday 11 January
Fourth round - Saturday 8 February
Fifth round - Saturday 1 March
Quarter-finals - Saturday 29 March
Semi-finals - Saturday 26 April
Final - Saturday 17 May

The Blues have reached the FA Cup semi-finals in six of the past eight seasons, but not won it since 2018.

What’s new: Carabao Cup

The start of our 65th League Cup campaign will revert to round three as a result of our Conference League qualification, with the draw taking place towards the end of August.

Chelsea, last season’s runners-up, have not won this competition since 2014/15, under Jose Mourinho, our longest stretch without victory since 1998.

Carabao Cup round dates

Round three - 18 & 25 September 2024
Round four - 30 October 2024
Quarter-finals - 18 December 2024
Semi-finals (1st leg) - 8 January 2024
Semi-finals (2nd leg) - 5 February 2024
Final - 16 March 2025

The third-round schedule is split over two weeks, allowing more televised matches.

Semi-finals remain two-legged ties, albeit a month apart, and the final is set for a later date of 16 March 2025 at Wembley.

The Blues have finished as runners-up in the League Cup in three of the past six seasons but have not won it since 2015.

What’s new: Officiating

PGMOL, the referees’ body, has announced new guidance for 2024/25 on handball, aimed at reducing the number of ‘harsh penalties’ by taking into account any change of direction by the ball.

However, there will be less leniency from the outset when it comes to grappling in the box at set-plays, particularly when sustained holding happens close to the ball, and therefore potentially impacts outcomes.

At some stage this season the VAR system will adopt semi-automated offside decisions, which should reduce waiting times. The system currently identifies the relative positions of players involved in the decision to fractions of a millimetre but the moment a ball is kicked has to be detected manually.

We saw ‘Snicko’ the real-time contact-tracking software used on handball decisions this summer in Germany at Euro 2024, but the microchip required inside each ball is only licensed to one manufacturer at present and it is not Nike, who supply the Premier League.

The more impatient among us will be happy that team news must now be made public 75 minutes before kick-off – 15 minutes earlier than is now the case, and in line with UEFA competitions.

Chelsea's all-time top-flight record

Played: 3,588
Won: 1,475
Drawn: 923
Lost: 1,190
Goals for: 5,527
Goals against: 4,989
Goal difference: +538