Chelsea move ahead of United and Spurs, into 2nd place
After today’s win over Manchester United, Chelsea move up to second place in the alt-3 league table.
Why? Because Chelsea face a relatively easy run of fixtures up to the halfway point of the Premier League season. Apart from their away match against Liverpool in 3 weeks’ time, their fixture list looks like a canter into 2018. Chelsea’s upcoming schedule includes Swansea, Newcastle and Southampton at home, and West Ham away.
Man Utd, on the other hand, will face Watford and Arsenal away in the next few weeks, before they play Manchester City at Old Trafford in mid-December.
Spurs, likewise, have had a relatively easy fixture list up to now. Their next few weeks includes away matches at Arsenal, Watford, Man City and Burnley.
This contrast between Chelsea’s fixture list and those of Man Utd and Spurs comes out clearly in their current alt-3 schedule strengths: Chelsea are currently rated at schedule strength +1.4, while United’s relatively easy schedule to date makes their alt-3 schedule strength appreciably lower at −1.0, and Spurs are rated lower still at −1.1. That difference puts Chelsea currently ahead of United by 1.4 points in the alt-3 table, and ahead of Spurs by 1.5 points.
Take a look at today’s schedule-strength graphs for a bit more detail: