Chelsea backed by Emile Heskey to challenge Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool for Premier League title

There were concerns that Chelsea could encounter a challenging season with the appointment of new manager Enzo Maresca and another round of hectic spending in the transfer market.

Chelsea were beaten by defending champions Man City on the opening day but that remains their only defeat after seven games, the Blues picking up 14 points to climb to fourth in the Premier League table.

Maresca’s side have quickly established themselves as one of the most exciting in England, with only Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City scoring more goals than Chelsea so far this season.

Despite their impressive form, Chelsea are not expected to challenge for the title and will likely be content with a top-four finish, but Heskey believes they can have bigger aspirations.

The ex-England striker is confident Chelsea are at least the fourth best team in the Premier League but says he would not be surprised if they even mounted a title challenge.

‘If you’re talking about top four contenders, you’ve got to say Chelsea and Aston Villa,’ Heskey told 10bet.

‘I would have said Manchester United, but they’re having a bit of a torrid time at the moment, and I don’t think they’ve got what it takes to be consistently good enough to challenge for a place in the top four.

‘I think Chelsea are the one team that can be a disruptive influence this season. I’m tempted to say that Chelsea could even challenge for the Premier League title and make it a four-way race.

‘Having watched Enzo Maresca quite closely at Leicester last season when I was coaching there, I’m confident that he will be a success at Chelsea.

‘I was impressed seeing hm in action. He’s relentless in terms of implicating his style of play.

‘He expects total commitment and dedication from his players – he got that at Leicester by winning the Championship and returning the club to the Premier League at the first attempt.

‘He transformed the playing style at Leicester. Without sounding disrespectful to my old club, he’s working with better players at Chelsea, and they should be able to get to grips with his methods and develop an even greater understanding of what he wants to do even quicker than the Leicester players did.

‘Chelsea have played in various ways over the last few seasons because they’ve had so many managers.

‘Maresca likes to play a very structured brand of football, but Chelsea’s early results tell me that the players are getting used to his methods.’

Manchester City, the dominant force in English football over the last decade, have found competition from Arsenal in recent years, finishing just two points above Mikel Arteta’s side last season.

Liverpool are top going into this weekend’s round of fixtures, one point above Man City and Arsenal.

The Anfield club also faced questions over the summer following Jurgen Klopp’s emotional departure but Heskey has seen enough from Arne Slot’s side to believe they can compete for the title once more.

‘I’m expecting Liverpool to be in the race, and I think that’s good for the Premier League because the more competitive it is at the top, the more exciting it is for the fans,’ he added.

‘I hope we have a title race that runs until the last game of the season and leaves us on the edge of our seats.

‘From what we’ve seen so far, Liverpool fans can be optimistic that they can run Man City and Arsenal all the way this season.’

Early Premier League leaders Liverpool play host to Chelsea this weekend, while reigning champions Manchester City visit bottom-placed Wolves. Arsenal travel to the south coast to face Bournemouth.

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