“Going to cost them” – The one thing that stops Chelsea competing for title this season according to pundit | OneFootball

Troy Deeney has become the outspoken pundit we always knew he would be, after struggling as a manager.

His comments on Chelsea in recent weeks have raised eyebrows – and he’s not holding back now, even after a win for the Blues got them back on track after the international break.

A 2-1 win over Leicester thanks to goals from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez was made much trickier by Chelsea’s struggles to remain calm at the back – they conceded a 95th minute penalty just when it looked like they might finally pick up a Premier League clean sheet.

It was that aspect which Deeney focused on. Despite having the quality in attack to win the league, he has doubts about our goalkeeper and defenders:

“Yeah, right now they should be looking at [the title race],” Deeney said in his show on talkSPORT looking back at the games from Saturday.

“But I still think that goalkeeper [Robert Sanchez] and the defenders keep letting in poor goals. That should have been an easy 2-0 win, if not a 3-0 win today. Just open at the back today and I think that’s why they have to go for top four right now.

“Unless in January they go out and get a couple of signings, that backline is going to cost them.”

Robert Sanchez fouls Rasmus Hojlund. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Sanchez and defenders worry fans as much as Deeney

Frankly, many Chelsea fans would agree. We’ve got some talented defenders, but not yet really acquired any solidity in the team. Sanchez is a problem which most fans are convinced will only be fixed by replacing him, despite the claims from the club briefings that there’s still plenty of belief in him internally.

A title race seems out of the question anyway, but no matter what we’re aiming for, it’s a lack of clean sheets which is going to hold us back.