- Enzo Maresca believes Chelsea are not yet ready to challenge for the title
- Chelsea defeated Brentford 2-1 and closed the gap on Liverpool to two points
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Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has revealed why he believes his team are unable to challenge for the Premier League title this season.
The Blues recorded a 2-1 victory at home against Brentford on Sunday, closing the gap on leaders Liverpool to just two points, although Arne Slot’s team still has a game in hand.
Marc Cucurella gave Chelsea the lead just before half-time and Nicolas Jackson made it 2-0 in the 80th minute.
There was an eventful end to the match when Bryan Mbeumo got a goal back for Brentford late on, while Cucurella was sent off in stoppage time.
Cucurella received a second bookable foul for pushing Kevin Schade shortly after fouling Fabio Carvalho.
Chelsea are on an impressive run of five consecutive Premier League victories, but Maresca believes the title will be beyond his team this season.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca revealed why he thinks his team cannot challenge for the title
The Blues are just two points behind leaders Liverpool after a 2-1 win over Brentford
Maresca believes the way Chelsea are conceding goals will hamper their title hopes.
As reported by The mirrorMaresca said: “No matter how many games we win, I don’t think we are ready to fight for the title.
“One of the reasons for this is that the team that knows how to compete to win titles doesn’t concede the goals that we concede. A team that knows how to win titles, that’s not a goal that they know how to handle.’
‘Only two teams have conceded less than us. We are not doing too badly defensively. We would like to finish with a clean sheet, but there is another team trying to score.”
As Maresca alludes, Chelsea have only conceded 19 goals in the league this season, with Arsenal (15) and Liverpool (13) the only teams to have conceded fewer.
Maresca indicated that his team needs some improvements defensively
However, Maresca believes there is still some room for his side to improve defensively.
Chelsea host Shamrock Rovers in the Europa Conference League on Thursday before returning to the competition with a trip to Everton three days later.
The Maresca team have exceeded expectations with their performances in the league this season and they will be determined to keep their standards high during the second half of the season to ensure the pressure remains on Liverpool.