Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca is already looking to the future following the 5-1 win over Southampton on Wednesday night. The Blues came out as comfortable winners against the Premier League's bottom team. Goals from Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho earned them a third Premier League win in a row and moved them up to second place in the standings.
The win extended Maresca's dominance over Southampton. In the three games his teams have faced the Saints, they have scored 14 goals and conceded just twice.
For Chelsea and Maresca, concentration is already on the next match, though. The Blues travel to Tottenham on Sunday afternoon (4.30pm) for a mouth-watering London derby.
Ahead of the match, Maresca has taken to social media to send somewhat of a warning to Spurs over his team's performances. Along with a picture of him on the training ground, he wrote: "Early wake up with the right energy to continue improving."
The head coach also shared a post from Chelsea on his Instagram story which outlined the attacking output of his team so far this season, which reads: "The Blues have scored 57 goals in 22 matches in all competitions this season, our best goals-per-game ratio in a single season in our history."
A win against Tottenham would increase the talk of Chelsea being contenders in this season's Premier League title race. But it's something that Maresca is likely to brush off, once again.
During his pre-match press conference for Southampton, he was asked if he still believed that his side were not in the title race. Maresca replied: "Absolutely, yes."
He then added: "To be in the title race, it is a nice pressure for me and the players. It's not that kind of pressure that you don't like. It's that kind of pressure that you like because you are in the title race, but it is not our case.
"Arsenal, in the last two years, they were very, very close to City and Liverpool, they have been there. We were not there. Hopefully, soon, we can be there."
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Premier League