Enzo Maresca explains Chelsea Premier League title race stance as he doubles down after crucial victory over Brentford

Chelsea have had a very strong start to life under Maresca as the Italian has turned a rather underperforming squad into a well-oiled machine that has won 10 matches of the first 16 Premier League clashes and currently sits in second place, two points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

Suggestions have been made that Chelsea could potentially find themselves in a Premier League title race against Liverpool with Manchester City and Arsenal underperforming severely. However, Maresca has kept up that his side will not be dragged into a potential title race talk, and has backed up his earlier comments after the Blues' 2-1 win over Brentford.

Speaking to the media, Maresca said: "No matter how many games we win, I think we are not ready to compete for the title.

"One of the reasons why is that the team that knows how to compete to win titles, they won't concede goals we concede. A team that knows how to win titles, that is not a goal they know how to concede.

"Just two teams have conceded less than us. Defensively we're not doing bad. We'd like to end with a clean sheet but there's another team trying to score."

The Blues are now set to be in action next when they take on Shamrock Rovers in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, December 19.