On Saturday, Chelsea begin the defence of their Premier League title as Swansea City come to town hoping to build on what was also a hugely encouraging 2014-15 for them.
Jose Mourinho's side led the way in the table from August 30 en route to their fourth league crown, and the Blues will be keen to pick up where they left off last term.
Chelsea
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Can Chelsea be stopped? Not according to bookmakers, many of whom have installed Mourinho's men as short-priced favourites to retain their title come May 2016. Few would back against them doing just that.
Such was the emphatic manner of their glory last term, Mourinho has felt less compelled to embark on the level of spending commonly associated with the West Londoners in summers gone past.
This time around, Radamel Falcao - who was signed on a season-long loan from AS Monaco - is the only major arrival at Stamford Bridge, with goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, Danilo Pantic and Brazilian starlet Nathan also joining for a combined £13.5m.
With Eden Hazard winning PFA Player of the Year last term, and Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa also enjoying exceptional debut seasons at Chelsea, the consensus seems to be that there is little need to overly strengthen a squad that led the title race for a record 267 days in the 2014-15 campaign - August 30 until May 24.
However, Mourinho's side endured a lukewarm pre-season campaign, with Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield giving rise to suggestions that the Blues will face a far tougher test of their mettle than last time around.
Chelsea won this fixture 4-2 last season but it was a Swansea performance that may remind Mourinho's men of the threat posed by their Welsh counterparts. The visit of Swansea will not and should not be underestimated by the hosts.
Failing to win this time around would not prompt the bookies to identify a new favourite, but dropped points may indicate that the season comes too soon for a side who, based on their pre-season outings, do not look ready for their defence to get underway.
Recent league form: DWWDLW
Pre-season form: LWWLL
Swansea
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Having claimed that the 2015-16 campaign will be the "hardest season the Premier League has seen", Swansea boss Garry Monk is clearly under no illusions of how tricky it will be to replicate his heroics of last season.
This time last year, 36-year-old Monk - the second-youngest manager in the division behind Norwich City's Alex Neil, 34 - was preparing for his first full year in charge and many pre-season predictions from the media made for grim reading. How wrong they were.
Not only did City steer well clear of the relegation scrap envisioned for them, Monk led his troops to an eighth-place finish in what proved the club's best ever top-flight season. It was an achievement made all the more remarkable by the fact that they lost primary goalscorer Wilfried Bony to Manchester City in January.
They also managed a league double over Manchester United and Arsenal, and the young manager may remind his squad of those scalps as they prepare to visit the champions this weekend.
Visiting Stamford Bridge on gameweek one is arguably the toughest possible start for City, but the fear factor may be reduced given the fact that they excelled in defying the odds last term.
Last season, they kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford in what remained one of the major surprises up until the 2014-15 edition finished. It arguably set the tone for their campaign, and Monk may be optimistic over a similar scalp again.
He has kept his squad intact throughout the summer months, and recruited the likes of Eder and Andre Ayew from Braga and Marseille respectively. Despite their success of last season, Monk is adamant that the 40-point barrier remains the target. Secretly, though, he may be hoping that he can top what he managed last time around.
Recent league form: LWWWLL
Pre-season form: DWDDD
Team News
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Mourinho has confirmed that Costa may miss the visit of Swansea after revealing that he was growing concerned by the striker's hamstring problems.
Loic Remy is expected to deputise, after Falcao joined up with the squad late on in pre-season due to his participation with Colombia in the Copa America.
Meanwhile, Eder and Ayew could feature for the Swans as the duo are poised for their competitive debuts. Monk's only doubt comes in the form of Jordi Amat, whose foot injury could keep him out of the curtain-raiser.
Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski signed a contract extension on Thursday and he will look to commemorate the new deal with a clean sheet.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Hazard, Oscar, Willlian; Remy
Swansea possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Cork, Ki; Routledge, Sigurdsson, Dyer; Gomis
Head To Head
The West Londoners have suffered just one defeat against their Welsh counterparts over the past 34 years - a 2-0 Capital One Cup setback in 2013.
Overall, Chelsea have won eight of the last 12 meetings in all competitions and they bring a five-match winning streak with them on Saturday. Their last clash with Monk's men ended in a resounding 5-0 victory at the Liberty Stadium earlier this year.
We say: Chelsea 2-0 Swansea
Chelsea will display two very different, yet very effective, sides of themselves on Saturday - the slick attacking side that helped them establish such a comfortable lead by February, and the impenetrable defensive aspect of their game that saw them close out the title with relative ease.
We reckon the first half will belong to the likes of Fabregas and Hazard this weekend, before Gary Cahill and John Terry take over.
No Data Analysis info
