Arne Slot’s Liverpool side are the runaway leaders in the Premier League, but Chelsea are actually the closest challengers to them right now in the division table.
Liverpool have enjoyed the smoothest of transitions since Arne Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp in the manager’s dugout at Anfield during the summer.
Meanwhile, Chelsea also made a managerial change before the season started, with Enzo Maresca replacing Mauricio Pochettino. The Blues are certainly exceeding all pre-season expectations.
Liverpool, who currently have a four-point cushion at the top of the league, lead the table going into a busy festive schedule.
The Chelsea squad is still extremely young and inexperienced, but people are starting to talk about them as genuine title challengers. Ian Wright thinks Chelsea still need two key signings before they make the jump to to the next level, though.
(THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, looks on after the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD6 match betwe...
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Arne Slot talks up Chelsea
Liverpool’s manager, Slot, has boldly asserted that only Chelsea has outperformed his team in a single match thus far this season. The Blues put in an impressive display away to Liverpool back in October but still lost the league meeting by a 2-1 scoreline.
During Friday morning’s press conference, Slot was asked how he views Chelsea this season. He responded via Liverpool’s YouTube channel: “I think it was one of the games, maybe the only game, where I felt the other team was better than us during that game. That’s not to say for the long-term they’re better than us, but during the game they had more ball possession than us and were threatening us more than any other team did until now. That was my opinion about Chelsea back then, and that is still my opinion.
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“I’m not there to judge what position they will end in the league table. I have to focus on my own team. Chelsea has been impressive this season so far, that’s for sure.”
Nedum Onuoha views Arsenal as Liverpool’s biggest title contender, which is fair enough when you consider they’ve been in the mix in recent years. As it stands, the Gunners are third in the division standings and sit two points behind Chelsea.
Can Chelsea capitalise on decent fixtures?
Chelsea have four top-flight games remaining in 2024. At this point, they’ll be exactly halfway into the Premier League season.
On paper, Maresca’s side have a great opportunity in the next few weeks to build more momentum and apply some pressure on Liverpool.
Paul Merson is backing Chelsea to beat Brentford in this weekend’s fixture. Afterwards, the Blues face teams they’ll be expected to win against.
It makes sense to follow the mantra of taking it one game at a time because there’s still so many points left to play. You can’t blame an excited fanbase if they get carried away, though.