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Former player Chris Sutton has backed Chelsea to edge out Brentford in their Premier League clash on Sunday (December 15). The BBC pundit believes Brentford manager Thomas Frank has been brilliant this season but the Blues are better at home.
In his weekly BBC column, Sutton opined that Brentford's away form would play a role and that he could not see any other result than a Chelsea win. He added that Cole Palmer's confidence level will also drive the home side on Sunday, writing:
"I really admire the job Thomas Frank has done with Brentford because under him they have evolved as a team, and grown as a club. But this is another pretty obvious prediction, because the Bees are awesome at home and useless away. I really can't see past a Chelsea win here, with Cole Palmer's Panenka penalty against Tottenham illustrating how high their confidence is. The way they are playing, they are definitely title contenders no matter how many times their manager Enzo Maresca denies it."
Sutton added:
"It will be odd for fans to have a game starting so late on a Sunday night, but the Premier League have caved in to teams who want a bit of extra rest after playing in Europe on Thursday. I am not sure the Premier League have thought this through, and they might have opened a can of worms here. All teams like to complain about not getting enough rest, especially over Christmas, so the Premier League probably need to come up with a minimum time period that teams should have between games, and stick to it."
Chris Sutton has tipped Chelsea to win 2-1. Liverpool fan and darts star Stephen Bunting was with Sutton for the predictions this week. He has backed Chelsea to win 3-1 and continue their good form.
Chelsea are not in a title race, says Enzo Maresca
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has insisted that his side are not in the Premier League title race. He claimed that the Blues are still taking things 'day by day' and believes they should not get carried away.
He said (via Sports Illustrated):
"The good thing is that I like to think on the day by day, so in which moment something can change I don’t know, I don’t know. The main focus for me is, and it’s not something I say because I have to say that, it’s because I really think that, because it’s the only way to improve me and to improve the players, just to focus on what we can do better in terms of training sessions, improving players and improving the team. This is the only main focus for me. Then in which moment we can think of something different, I don’t know."
With 31 points, the Blues are second in the league table – just four points behind Liverpool who have a game in hand. They are two points ahead of Arsenal, who face Everton on Saturday (December 14).
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Edited by Parag Jain