Chelsea players ‘don’t smell’ a title race, Maresca insists

Enzo Maresca has once again ruled his Chelsea side out of the title race, despite being in form and second in the Premier League table.

Since a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, Maresca’s side are seven games unbeaten, including winning their last five, and are four points behind Arne Slot’s side going into the west London derby with Brentford on Sunday.

Maresca has experience of a title-winning campaign after guiding Leicester City to the Championship title last season but says he doesn’t have the same ‘smell’ of being in a title race that he has felt before.

“You can smell that, you can feel that, and 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,” he said.

“As I said, hopefully soon we can be there, but at this moment this is one of the reasons why I think we are not there.

“Also, I like to convince myself and convince the players that the only way to fight for something or to compete for something is just to be focused on the day by day because when you start to think about it in two days, three days, one month, two months, is the beginning of the bad time.”

While Cole Palmer remains Chelsea’s standout star, Jackson’s eight goals and three assists in the league have been vital for their impressive start.

The Senegal international garnered praise from his manager during the win over Spurs after showing signs of frustration at being substituted.

“Nico was upset, and sad because he didn’t score but for me, Nico did the most important thing in the game against Tottenham,” Maresca explained. “When we scored, at 2-2, everyone was celebrating the goal with Cole [Palmer] and there was only one player who brought the ball quick to the middle to start again. That was Nico.

“This shows the desire of Nico to win the game. 10 players celebrated the goal, but only one took the ball and brought it to the halfway line. For me, in terms of that moment, it’s the most important moment of the game.”

After a young Chelsea squad made the long trip to Almaty to face Astana in the UEFA Europa Conference League in midweek, the first-team regulars will be well-rested for Brentford.

Thomas Frank’s side are in good form themselves, a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa their only loss in five games, and have scored four goals in wins against both Leicester City and Newcastle United.

Maresca is expecting the Bees to ‘complicate’ the game for his side: “The good thing about them is that they can play in different styles, they don’t have just one way to play.

“They can play back four, they can play back five, they can play back four, making back five with one of the wingers. It’s quite complicated but we’re going to try to do our best.”