Enzo Maresca's first nine Premier League games compared to Mauricio Pochettino, Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel

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A look at how Enzo Maresca’s start with Chelsea compares to the three managers that preceded him.

Chelsea have enjoyed a strong start under Enzo Maresca, firmly in the top four conversation so far this season. There were questions over whether Maresca was equipped to take the Stamford Bridge role, arriving with relatively little experience across spells with Parma and Leicester City.

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But despite having to clear out a number of high-profile players to trim his bloated squad, Maresca has thrived so far, with Chelsea currently in fifth place and just one point behind both Arsenal and Aston Villa. The Blues look a touch off the very best of the division, which is still expected at this point, but they have looked strong against plenty of big clubs with big expectations, and Maresca will be delighted with the start his men have made to the season.

Maresca’s start compared

Going into a little more detail, Maresca has picked up five wins from his first nine Premier League games in charge, losing twice and drawing as many. Last boss Mauricio Pochettino did not have such a pleasant start, winning only three of his first nine league games in charge, losing three and drawing as many.

Pochettino was able to get Chelsea humming, but it wasn’t until the second half of the season, with the Blues losing only one of their last 15 league outings.

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Graham Potter actually enjoyed a better start than Pochettino, winning four of his first nine league games, losing three and drawing twice. Though, the Englishmen saw results turn for the worse and, of course, didn’t last very long as a result.

Going back a little further to Thomas Tuchel, who enjoyed a strong spell in charge of the Blues, the German enjoyed an unbeaten start to life in charge of the Blues. His first nine league games yielded six wins and three draws. Tuchel actually only suffered two defeats in his first 19 games in charge, winning as many as 11.

That will be a tough start for Maresca to match, but all focus will be on securing a top four finish this season, with a return to the Champions League a priority despite Maresca claiming the board have not made that explicitly clear. He said: "The club never mentioned to me about top four. They always mentioned to me the target was to build something important for the next four or five years.

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"For sure, we work every day to reach something important. Pressure, on the players? I don't think so, to be honest. If you go game by game, you can see yourself where you are in that moment. If you start to think about top four or top six, you are thinking about June and for me, it's too far."

The Blues already look as though they are strong contenders, with Aston Villa likely to be their main rivals should Arsenal recover as expected, and should Liverpool keep up their superb pace. Brighton and Nottingham Forest are the closest below Chelsea, but it does look as though the current top five will end up being a class above the rest.

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