Chelsea are hardly immune to an early season test - 2004-05 comes to mind - but recent Premier League seasons have, in large part, afforded the club a favorable early run of fixtures. Over the past three seasons, the likes of Wigan Athletic, Hull City, Reading and most recently Burnley and Leicester City have dotted the league calendar in August.

That is not quite the case in 2015-16.

Away trips to Manchester City, on Matchday 2, and Everton, as well as home dates with Swansea City, Crystal Palace and Arsenal highlight an opening sextet of league matches that, at least on the surface, appears an instant and thorough examination of the reigning champions.

Though the Blues’ crunch visit to the Etihad Stadium has no doubt garnered much of the attention, Swansea City, keen to build off its best-ever top flight finish (eighth, 56 points), should not be overlooked. A repeat of last season’s 4-2 home victory, in which Diego Costa recorded his first hat trick for the club, is highly unlikely.

Fortunately, Chelsea is, well, impeccable on opening day. Chelsea hasn’t lost on opening day at Stamford Bridge in 12 league matches, winning 10 and drawing two since a defeat to Blackburn in 1993. In fact, Chelsea has collected 50 points from 23 opening-day matches, the best record among top-flight teams.

Key fixtures

August 16: Manchester City (a)
September 19: Arsenal (h)
October 31: Liverpool (h)
December 28: Manchester United (a)
January 23: Arsenal (a)
February 6: Manchester United (h)
March 12: Liverpool (a)
April 16: Manchester City (h)

Despite such early season tests, the fixture machine has once again, much to the chagrin of Tony Pulis, largely been kind to Chelsea. Much of the sticky business against clubs competing for the Champions League places will be finished by January, with only an away trip to Liverpool (March 12) and home dates against Manchester United (February 6) and Manchester City (April 16) left to navigate.

The holiday slate, which includes a trip to Leicester City sandwiched between matches against Bournemouth and Sunderland at home, is particularly kind. On Boxing Day, Chelsea welcomes Watford to the Bridge before potentially vital fixtures at Old Trafford on Monday, December 28, and Selhurst Park on Saturday, January 2.

There are potential pitfalls - Arsenal (September 19, home), Southampton (October 3, home), Stoke City (November 7, away) and Tottenham (November 29, away) all come on the back of UEFA Champions League Group Stage appearances - but a seasoned and settled side such as Chelsea should in theory cope well in this regard.

An imperious start to the campaign, customary under José Mourinho, coupled with a successful holiday period could find Chelsea waltzing to the league title for the second successive season.