If Chelsea plan to defend their title this season, they need to be playing a lot better than they are at the moment. 

Having suffered three defeats from their opening eight games, the pressure was on to avoid another slip-up against Watford.

Antonio Conte had a Michy Batshuayi brace and a late goal from Cesar Azpilicueta to thank for rescuing a 4-2 victory from the jaws of defeat. 

Marco Silva's men are no pushovers and had reminded the Premier League just how dangerous they can be by stunning Arsenal at Vicarage Road last weekend.

Were you to ask Arsene Wenger, he would put the blame for that result firmly at the door of Richarlison, who has been providing plenty of talking points since arriving in English football.

The Brazilian has a, shall we say, relatively low pain threshold and couldn't withstand the slightest contact from Hector Bellerin, leading to the penalty on that occasion. At Stamford Bridge, his penchant for falling on the floor was on display again in the first half.

That wasn't the only reason he was drawing attention to himself, though, as he produced a contender for miss of the season.

With an hour to go, Watford could have been in control had he put this chance away: 

Pedro had got proceedings underway with a screamer before Abdoulaye Doucouré levelled things up just moments before the interval.

It was Roberto Pereyra who eventually put the Hornets in front and to be fair, it was Richarlison who contributed with an assist. Silva must still have been livid with him, however, as had he been more clinical, Chelsea should never have got back into the game. 

Watford rue missed chances 

The 20-year-old had spoken with such confidence about the fixture earlier this week, revealing to the Telegraph:

“I remember when I was growing up in Brazil, a guy once pointed a gun at my face because he thought I was a drug dealer trying to steal his distribution point. That was my life. After that, playing Chelsea seems much easier!"

In 2015/16, Chelsea's title defence was frankly embarrassing, and we saw the same from Leicester last season. Winning back-to-back titles seems to be going out of fashion and it's fair to say the current champions haven't been convincing thus far, losing to Burnley, Manchester City, and Crystal Palace, and experiencing such a close shave today. 

Last weekend, Troy Deeney accused Arsenal of lacking 'cojones', and it has to be said the same allegation could be levelled at Conte's men. There was a fragility to them and they seemingly did not know how to handle Watford. It's a good job the visitors missed a host of chances or it could have been worse.

All that really matters is that they're back to winning ways, however they went about it. 

Were Chelsea lucky to beat Watford? Have your say in the comments.