Gary Neville has explained why Chelsea aren’t in the title race this season despite having an identical record to challengers Arsenal after 13 games.
The Blues swatted Aston Villa aside 3-0 on Sunday to leave them level on points, wins, draws, losses, goals scored and conceded with the Gunners.
Their form under new manager Enzo Maresca has come as a surprise to many this season, with the former Leicester boss providing some much-needed stability at Stamford Bridge for a Chelsea side now also playing some very entertaining football.
Neville admits “Chelsea are having a fantastic season” but can’t see them challenging Liverpool for the title, with Arsenal the only side now capable of doing so.
“It feels too early for Chelsea, that’s why I don’t put them level with Arsenal even though they’re on the same number of points,” Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast.
“It doesn’t feel like Chelsea will go on and win it. I still think it’s going to be Arsenal if anyone does catch Liverpool. But Chelsea are having a fantastic season. Maresca has got stability there which has been hard to find recently.
“So well done to them, I watched bits of them [against Villa]. The Cole Palmer goal was absolutely brilliant, absolutely wonderful.”
He added: “Chelsea are doing really well so well done to the manager for bringing that level of calmness to the club because it’s been mad and chaotic over the last few seasons.
“For the first time in a while it feels like it’s settled down, so well done to Maresca and well done to the players. The owners will feel a little bit more calm at this moment in time. But I don’t feel that they’re in the title race, I don’t sense that really.”
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Enzo Maresca agrees with Neville as he believes his side haven’t been together for long enough to be considered title challengers.
When he was asked if Chelsea were title contenders on Sunday, he responded: “No. I’ve said many times I don’t like the pressure. I don’t like to say, ‘Yes, we’re there,’ because we’re not there.
“Arsenal are ahead of us, City are ahead of us, Liverpool are showing they’re ahead of us. The important thing is that we improve game after game, and then we’ll see.
“For me, it’s not about points or the table – it’s about the process and the programme. Arsenal have been together for five years, City for nine. Liverpool are different, but they haven’t made many changes from before. It’s not just about the points on the table; it’s about the time spent together.
“You have to be realistic. You can see the difference between us and the rest at this moment. That doesn’t mean we won’t compete and win games. We will do that until the end. The main focus has to be the feeling that we’re improving game after game.”