Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca fears Liverpool 'impossible to catch' in Premier League title race after £446m summer transfer splurge

With Slot overseeing little business across his debut campaign on Merseyside, huge moves were made after capturing the English top-flight crown. Liverpool drafted in the likes of Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez during an elaborate spending spree.

Liverpool have started the new campaign with five successive wins, leaving them five points clear at the top of the table, and Maresca - who has Chelsea sat sixth - admits that the Reds may soon race out of sight.

The Italian tactician said of trying to put his Blues squad in contention: “If they [Liverpool] continue in this way I think it is impossible to catch them, not just for us, but for all the clubs. They have been doing a fantastic job since last year, and the players they have decided to buy shows the intention of the club to go again for the Premier League and the Champions League, and that is quite clear.”

If Chelsea are to compete, then they will need Cole Palmer at their disposal. He was forced out of a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Manchester United with a groin injury, but Maresca is confident that surgery can be avoided.

He said when asked about the possibility of England international Palmer being forced under the knife: “The medical staff, they didn’t mention to me about surgery. I don’t know if in the next days or the next weeks, but I don’t think so, to be honest. But we need to protect Cole, 100%. Because of the Club World Cup, and we never stopped, we need to manage and protect different players, and Cole is one of them.

“Now we have a meeting with the medical staff and decide the best solution for him. It is not an injury which is black and white. It is an injury which on some days you can be better and the pain disappears, and sometimes you can be worse so that is why we have to manage it day by day.”

Maresca is likely to make sweeping changes to his starting XI for a Carabao Cup clash with League One high-fliers Lincoln City on Tuesday, with a home date against Brighton next on the Blues’ Premier League agenda.