Maresca cannot 'smell' a Chelsea title challenge

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca claims he cannot "smell" a title race, despite his side sitting second in the Premier League table.

The Blues are unbeaten in seven league matches heading into Sunday's clash with Brentford at Stamford Bridge and sit just four points behind leaders Liverpool, who play Fulham on Saturday.

Maresca's side have scored 12 goals in beating Aston Villa, Southampton and Tottenham in their last three league encounters to pull clear as Liverpool's chief challengers, but the Italian continues to doubt their title credentials.

He said: "You can smell that [a title race], you can feel that.

"Probably this is the reason why I said we are not ready, because we don't feel that and we don't smell that in this moment. Hopefully soon we can be there.

"I like to convince myself and convince the players that the only way to fight for something is just to be focused day-by-day.

"When you start to think about 'in two days, three days, one month, two months', it's the beginning of the bad times."

Chelsea are the league's highest scorers, with 35 goals to their name so far this season. They have netted at least three goals in their last three top-flight outings.

Only once before in the Blues' history have they scored three or more goals in four successive top-flight matches, doing so in November/December 1954 under Ted Drake en route to winning the title that season.

We welcome Brentford to Stamford Bridge next. pic.twitter.com/3e5G6xLsDK

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 14, 2024

Meanwhile, Jadon Sancho, who netted Chelsea's first goal in their 4-3 win over Spurs last week, is aiming to score in three consecutive league appearances for the first time since February 2021.

Sancho has provided glimpses of his quality since signing on loan from Manchester United in the summer but Maresca believes his game can go to a new level.

He said: "Jadon, probably, he was lacking in finishing because we had many games where he arrived many times 1v1 and he's always looking for assist, assist, assist.

"That is something good, but sometimes also you are in a position where you can take a shot and now he's doing better. In the left side, with the left pocket and left winger, we have struggled a little bit [to score]."