Brentford boss Thomas Frank has claimed that Chelsea are in a title race despite Enzo Maresca’s dismissal of the Blues challenging Liverpool for the Premier League trophy.
Maresca has consistently dismissed media speculation regarding his Chelsea side, stating that they are behind both Liverpool and Arsenal in terms of their progress and title credentials.
However, a 2-1 win over Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Sunday night saw the Blues move within two points of league leaders Liverpool despite playing a game more than Arne Slot’s side.
A win over Liverpool’s rivals Everton on Sunday would see Chelsea leapfrog the Reds before they travel to play Tottenham Hotspur later on the same day.
If Maresca’s side were to sit top of the table, the Italian would most likely still dismiss Chelsea’s chances at lifting the Premier League at the end of the season despite impressive current form.
One man who believes Chelsea have what it takes to go all the way is Brentford manager Frank, who was reportedly in the running for the Blues job in the summer.
Chelsea decided against hiring the Dane, and instead brought in Maresca from Leicester, and the Blues have been flying ever since.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, Frank admitted that his side were unlikely to come away from Stamford Bridge with anything due to the quality in Chelsea’s team.
He said: “I’m very pleased with the performance. The players gave everything.
“This is a very good Chelsea team with very good players and they’ve spent a few quid. Well coached.”
He continued to label Chelsea as title challengers, admitting that the Blues were celebrating their performance because of the tough task they had in front of them, with Brentford causing them problems.
“We created quite a bit of trouble for Chelsea which you could see how much it meant to them,” he continued. “They are right up there as favourites for the title and well deserved.
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“I don’t think there’s one (Chelsea) player left from the first two times we won here.
“If you look at the performance today against a top team who will go right to the end of the season and try to win the title, the way they celebrated it was clear they respected us and we could easily have got something.”
Goals from Marc Cucurella and Nicolas Jackson saw Chelsea take a 2-0 lead before a late Bryan Mbeumo goal led to late nerves.
Chelsea will be hoping that they can keep up their fine form and go top of the league next week when they face Everton, but they will have to do so without Cucurella, who received a red card after the match for arguing with the Brentford players and officials.
