Liverpool and Manchester City have been the dominant forces in the Premier League over the last five years.

Chelsea have been the nearest to the two, and the Blues came third last season.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has noticed the marked improvement from Chelsea rivals Tottenham, Arsenal and Man United.

According to Tuchel, all three sides have improved massively, and will try to overtake Chelsea.

Tuchel said in his press conference: “Tottenham and Arsenal showed in pre-season and the transfer market – Man United too – what their ambition is, that they have a clear target to catch us and to get closer to the top two teams.

“We’re in the middle of it and it doesn’t help if we break our heads thinking about it.

“We will have a very competitive team, I am happy with the players that came and made the squad stronger. This is where the focus is.

“The players came late, there are still players to come in. So it is a kind of disadvantage but we have the guys we have and we will push them to the limit.”