It would be foolish to expect a better performance from Chelsea. Maybe the team's performance will stabilize a bit. But I don't think Chelsea deserve to be in the top four of the points table at the moment. This club has a lot of internal problems. The management of the club is not experienced and this is their first weakness.
However, this season too, Chelsea will form a squad with a new coach. Looking forward to seeing if Enzo Maresca will make Chelsea stronger again. But the Chelsea team is in a very bad position right now. Rapid improvement is not possible for this team. But if Maresca has long term plan then maybe Chelsea's overall situation will change slowly and we will see stable performance from Chelsea.
Todd Boehly wants to see Chelsea improve quickly, that's why he believes he has given Maresca the players he needs to succeed this season. Of course, Chelsea's problems come from its management, who didn't have the patience to give their coaches two seasons to get used to the team; instead, they expect managers to win every game as soon as they are appointed.
Chelsea is the only team I am aware of that can purchase any player they want, without the manager opinion, because they truly think those players are perfect for the team. I believe that only Chelsea supporters will be able to predict that they could be among the top four. But based on Manchester United performance against Fulham, which showed that they are far better than Chelsea, I can only assume that Manchester United will have a chance to finish in the top four, but Chelsea will not.
You shouldn't rush into conclusions on the teams that will finish on top four this season because only one match has been played and Chelsea played with the best team in EPL and defending champions for 4 years, while Manchester united played with an average club which they found it difficult to find the back of the net till 80+mins.
This is why I will not say that Chelsea will fail again this season because I never expected them to win City. The only problem I see in the team is weak Jackson that is not smart and sharp and I don't know why they are giving him that role as a striker when is has no idea of what to do with the ball. I believe Chelsea would win their next game.