Chelsea are currently the team closest to runaway leaders Liverpool
Noni Madueke insists Chelsea are "up for it" having emerged as Liverpool's closest title rivals.
The Blues hammered Southampton on Wednesday night as they closed the gap to seven points at the top of the Premier League. Few picked the west Londoners to be title challengers at the start of the year following another change in the dugout.
Enzo Maresca though has his Chelsea team going in the right direction and they sit above Arsenal on goal difference and ahead of Manchester City.
They ran Liverpool close when the two teams met at Anfield, narrowly losing 2-1, but have remained competitive with their young side continuing to improve. Madueke has enjoyed his best year to date, scoring six times and becoming part of the England setup, and now he's relishing the challenge of giving it to the Reds.
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He said when asked about the title race: “Of course we are up for it." He went on to add: “[But] whether we are in it or not is a different question. However, we are taking every game as it comes. We are trying to progress and trying to get better. We are focusing on ourselves, really, and really trying to improve.
“We won 5-1 [at Southampton] and in the dressing room we are very happy with that, but we also know that we can be a lot better. It’s really focusing on us, focusing on training and trying to improve.”
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last six as we head into the hectic December schedule, which may determine whether or not they have what it takes to mount a season-long charge for the title.
Enzo Maresca has attempted to talk down Chelsea's title credentials
Maresca himself has attempted to manage expectations and claimed Chelsea won't be challenging for the top flight this term - but is backing the club to become a force long-term. "We're not in the title race. We are not, in my opinion," he said.
"What I said to the owners and the sporting directors the first time I met them, because of the age, and because of how good the squad is, for me Chelsea in the next five to 10 years will be one of the teams, or the team, that is going to dominate English football."
Maresca claimed his remit was "only to try to build something important for the next years" but that the Blues were going "in the right direction."
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