Chelsea will make Stamford Bridge a fortress under Maurizio Sarri, warns Alvaro Morata

Alvaro Morata believes Chelsea will be formidable at Stamford Bridge this season after the way they beat Arsenal in their opening Premier League fixture there.

Chelsea lost four times at home last term, which was comfortably the worst record of any team in the top six. Had they won two of those four games, the Blues would have pipped Liverpool to a top-four spot.

Morata had a difficult first season in England following his move from Real Madrid but scored an impressive goal in the 3-2 victory over Arsenal and he is confident Maurizio Sarri’s team will give the home supporters plenty to shout about.

He told Chelsea TV: “It’s very important to win at home because it shows the other teams that they need to fight a lot to get something here. This is the message we need to send.

“We need to improve on little things but when we had the ball we played well.”

Morata was linked with a move back to Serie A, where he spent two seasons with Juventus, but he insists he is happy at Chelsea.

He added: “There was never a thought for me to leave.”