Graham Potter has made an excellent start to life as Chelsea head coach. Here, football.london’s Adam Newson provides his thoughts on the Blues before their West London derby against Brentford.

Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League table at the time of speaking, with six wins from their first nine Premier League matches this season. What have you made of what you’ve seen so far?

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that under Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea had become a hard watch. The football wasn’t free-flowing and there were a couple of really disappointing away performances against Leeds and Southampton.

Graham Potter has managed to lift the level of performance swiftly and there is a more positive mindset going into matches. That was evidenced against Wolves as Chelsea were in control throughout and fashioned countless chances. It was the first routine win reeled off in the Premier League for a good few months and something that will likely be repeated in the weeks ahead. 

Thomas Tuchel was sacked at the start of September and he later issued a statement explaining how he was “devastated” to leave. Given the amount of money spent by the new owner in the summer, would it be fair to say he had significantly more pressure to deliver instant success?

Personally, I don’t think there was greater pressure on Tuchel to succeed this season – and that isn’t why he and Chelsea parted ways.

What the new ownership group wanted was a head coach they could collaborate and communicate openly with. Ultimately, they decided that wasn’t Tuchel after a hectic summer transfer window.

From what I understand, there was never any question about Tuchel’s tactical acumen or ability to guide Chelsea to statement wins, but a project is being started at Stamford Bridge and ultimately it was decided Potter was a better fit. 

His successor, Graham Potter, was appointed the next day. Does the five-year contract he signed suggest the Blues hierarchy are committed to a long-term project?

Only time will tell. All the indications are that the Boehly/Clearlake group are at Chelsea for the long haul; they certainly don’t view their ownership purely as a money-making exercise.

There is an emotional investment as well as a financial one and Potter is the head coach they believe can remain at the club for years to come and build something special. Of course, if results aren’t quite at the level required, there will be much noise and pressure. Yet I don’t think that would be a deal breaker for Potter. 

How is Potter likely to set up his side at the Gtech Community Stadium?

Good question! Chelsea have jumped between back-three and back-four systems under Potter thus far and that tactical flexibility makes it difficult to predict how the starting XI will look.

My guess would be Chelsea will go with a back three with Trevoh Chalobah and Kalidou Koulibaly on either side of Thiago Silva to help negate the threat and physical prowess of Ivan Toney.

Ahead of them, it’s very much a roll of the dice, as Potter has an array of quality options. 

Chelsea will no doubt want to forget the last meeting between the two teams: a 4-1 loss at Stamford Bridge back in April. What’s your score prediction for this one

Given the trajectory Chelsea are on – at the time of writing at least – I think they’ll come away with a 2–1 victory.