Maresca shocks everyone: “I can sense that Chelsea are not ready for the title race”

He has even slipped out of the Champions League placing for the moment, according to the Premier League table that reads Chelsea in seventh place. The season is still long, but the coach of Blues, Enzo Marescawanted to expose himself particularly regarding the race for the title and commented on his feelings about it Sky Sports UK a few minutes before kick-off of the match against Wolverhampton.

Shocking debut: “The reason why I have said many times that we are not in the running for the title is because I work with the players every day. I can see, I can sense that we are not ready to compete. You can’t suddenly compete for the title when in recent years you finished 12th and then maybe 6th. You need a trial.”

Continuing: “Why do they say that? Because we started so well, people probably thought we were already there. All the teams have moments like that, maybe except Liverpool that’s why they are first. All the others have had moments, Arsenal, we, City, Newcastle, Villa have had periods in which they have lost points. We hope to be able to start gaining points again and then we will see where we are.”

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Adarabioyo, Cucurella; Caicedo, Dewsbury-Hall; Madueke, Palmer, Neto, Jackson. Available: Jorgensen, Disasi, Felix, Nkunku, Sancho, Gusto, George, Acheampong, Guiu. Trainer: Maresca.

Wolverhampton (3-4-2-1): Sa; Semedo, Doherty, Bueno, Agbadou; Ait-Nouri, Andre, Joao Gomes; Cunha, Sarabia, Strand-Larsen. Available: Johnstone, Hwang, Dawson, R Gomes, Doyle, Forbs, Bellegarde, Guedes, Lima. Coach: Pereira.

The complete program
Saturday 18 January 2025
Newcastle – Bournemouth 1-4
Brentford – Liverpool 0-2
Leicester – Fulham 0-2
West Ham 0-2 Crystal Palace
Arsenal – Aston Villa 2-2

Sunday 19 January 2025
Everton – Tottenham 3-2
Manchester United – Brighton 1-3
Nottingham Forest 3-2 Southampton
Ipswich 0-6 Manchester City

Monday 20 January 2025
9pm Chelsea – Wolverhampton

The ranking:
Liverpool 50 (21 games played)
Arsenal 44 (22)
Nottingham Forest 44 (22)
Manchester City 38 (22)
Newcastle 38 (22)
Chelsea 37 (21)
Bournemouth 37 (22)
Aston Villa 36 (22)
Brighton 34 (22)
Fulham 33 (22)
Brentford 28 (22)
Crystal Palace 27 (22)
West Ham 26 (22)
Manchester United 26 (22)
Tottenham 24 (22)