Sarri Surprised By Chelsea’s Impressive Start

Maurizio Sarri has admitted he’s been surprised by Chelsea’s brilliant start to the season and revealed he expected his side to struggle at Stamford Bridge at the start.

Chelsea are undefeated in their first ten Premier League matches under the Italian and have progressed to the quarter-finals in the Carabao Cup as well as topping their Europa League group.

Sarri has transformed Chelsea’s play from their two years under Antonio Conte, with the former Napoli boss favouring a more possession-based approach.

The Italian knew the task ahead of him before joining Stamford Bridge and, considering he had very little time with the squad following his late appointment, Sarri says he’s shocked at how almost flawless things have gone so far.

Asked if he expected such a fine start, “No no” he responded

‘’Because in every experience that I have had before joining Chelsea I was in trouble in the first two months.”

‘’I thought that it would be the same here. I think that here I was lucky that the players were able to win without a very good level of tactical organisation.’’

Sarri also revealed Chelsea talisman Eden Hazard is fit to feature against the Eagles but suggested he could only play 40 minutes or so off the bench due to a back problem.

With Hazard back in the fold, few would back against Chelsea continuing their fine run against Crystal Palace in Sunday London
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