Chelsea have moved two points clear of Arsenal in the title race, and are 4 points off league leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
We are approaching the midway point of the season, and after 15 games, there are still arguments over whether Chelsea are title contenders or not.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes Chelsea are definitely in the race for the title, but thinks Chelsea still need a top-class goalkeeper.
He said on Sky Sports: “They are definitely in it. You look at some of the attacking players, no team is perfect.
“I am talking about the goalkeeper who isn’t great. But there are probably areas in Liverpool’s team where you think they could improve there, the same with Arsenal and no doubt Manchester City right now.
“But I just think certain positions almost feel more important than others when you think of teams who win the biggest prizes. That’s what would probably make me say right now… I still look at the goalkeeper, even today, they were a couple of clearances that Tottenham could have gotten a goal from.
“Maybe you can go to Everton and you lose that 1-0 because of a situation with the goalkeeper. You think at the game at Anfield, Chelsea played Liverpool off the park and Liverpool were delighted to get the final whistle.
“You look at that game and the goalkeeper let them down and I just think I look at Liverpool’s goalkeeper and even Arsenal’s goalkeeper, I think they are a level above Chelsea’s.”
Carragher’s colleague, Gary Neville, doesn’t quite feel Chelsea are genuine contenders, even though he admires the work done by Enzo Maresca so far.
“I think he’s being clever and doing the right thing in managing expectations because I think he’s right, they’re not quite in the title race as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think they’ll win the title this year,” the ex-Manchester United right-back said on NBC Sports.
“But obviously the closer they get, the more that question will be asked of him.
“He’s done a very good job. We knew he was a good coach but we didn’t know if he could manage this chaotic club over the last couple of years which has spent billions, that has basically chewed and spat out managers.
“What he’s done is absolutely brilliant in his first few months and I’ve been really impressed with him.
“Believe it or not, the two games that I’ve watched them this season are the two games that they’ve lost against Manchester City and Liverpool. But in both of those games, they went up in my estimation.
“There were things I saw in those games where I thought, ‘They’re okay’, and what he’s doing is involving the whole squad, so he’s keeping them all happy. That was one of the problems with the other managers, they couldn’t deal with the size of the squad.”