Chelsea legend Frank Leboeuf insists only Liverpool or Arsenal can win the Premier League title this season and not the Blues.
The Blues have been one of the surprise packages of the season in the Premier League with Enzo Maresca’s side beating Southampton 5-1 on Wednesday night.
That victory pushed them above Arsenal on goal difference in to second place in the Premier League table with Chelsea closing the gap to seven points on leaders Liverpool, who dropped points against Newcastle in a 3-3 draw at St James’ Park.
From the outside, Chelsea had been viewed as a bit of a mess before the start of the season with the Blues appearing to be suffering from their scattergun approach to transfers, which has seen them spend over £1billion since a Todd Boehly-led consortium completed a takeover of the club in May 2022.
But with everything now clicking on the pitch, Chelsea find themselves in the unexpected position of being title challengers but former Blues defender Leboeuf is not holding out much hope that they can overhaul Liverpool.
Former France and Chelsea defender Leboeuf told ESPN: “In the title race I still put Arsenal and Liverpool.
“I think City is going to struggle. I don’t have Chelsea in the title race. Only Arsenal and Liverpool for me. I want to be cautious. Arsenal can react well and if Liverpool start losing points like today.
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“They should’ve won that game even if it was a fair result at 3-2 they should have won.
“Chelsea, I want to be cautious because they are still young players and the confidence can easily lose it because of the inexperience.”
After their win at Southampton, Chelsea are now the highest scorers in the Premier League and possess the ability to score goals from all areas of their squad.
When asked about the potency his side possesses after thrashing Southampton on Wednesday, Chelsea boss Maresca said: “We said, if you remember from the beginning of the season, the way we played with the two wingers, the two attacking midfielders and the No.9 are in charge of the goals.
“You can see the goals from Noni, from Cole, from Jadon, from Nico, Christo – they are all attacking players and it’s a good feeling that all of them can be involved in the goals.
“I think there are just three or four teams that have conceded less than us. So we are very happy.”