Enzo Maresca may wish to downplay Chelsea’s title chances, but the reality is that they’re very much involved in the mix.
The Blues now sit four points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool after securing the lion’s share of the points against Ange Postecoglou’s wildly inconsistent Tottenham.
Arne Slot’s men do have a game in hand on the Londoners, but the same can’t be said of Arsenal and Manchester City who sit two and four points behind respectively.
Admittedly, Chelsea have yet to beat any of their title rivals in 2024/25, having drawn against the Gunners and suffered defeats to the Sky Blues and Merseysiders already.
Nonetheless, Maresca’s side are second on the leaderboard and, in a similar vein to Slot’s Liverpool, are actively defying expectations.
The former Manchester City employee refused to be drawn into title talk in the immediate aftermath of Chelsea’s victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“Arsenal, [Manchester] City and Liverpool probably don’t slide – like Cucurella did,” the Italian was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
“To be serious, we are not ready. We are far from these teams, but we focus on day-by-day and trying to improve the team.
“The plan or the idea is to not let the players slow down. They cannot drop because they know another player is waiting to come in.”
Credit where credit is due to Maresca. The club is almost certainly ahead of schedule given the comparative state of fortunes enjoyed by his predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino.
Where there was once dysfunction and a side characterised by a lack of direction and unity, there is now a growing sense of harmony.
Even if Chelsea need much more time to pose a more serious threat in the title race, as Maresca claims, it has to be a growing concern for Liverpool, Arsenal and City fans heading into the future.
With a rare set of points dropped by Liverpool at St James’ Park, Mikel Arteta’s men looked primed to take advantage.
A 2-0 win over Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United was a strong start, but a failure to further capitalise on the fixture chaos caused by Storm Darragh understandably had Paul Merson feeling a little deflated.
‘Advantage Liverpool’ was the 56-year-old’s concluding point as he assessed Arsenal’s potentially costly 1-1 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Over to you now, Liverpool!
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