Mind games: Liverpool manager makes huge claim about Maresca’s Chelsea to put pressure on | OneFootball

On the eve of this season, it looked like we might be set for a two-horse race between Arsenal and Manchester City.

Chelsea and Liverpool had changed managers over the summer, and looked far less developed in terms of their overall projects. But the season has actually gone another direction – City and Arsenal and not nearly as good as some feared, while Chelsea and Liverpool’s projects have proved to be further down the line than anyone expected.

Now, with Christmas just around the corner, the Blues and the Reds are the teams at the top, and looking like they’re very much the “real deal.”

Enzo Maresca on the touchline with Arne Slot. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Slot names Chelsea as toughest game Liverpool have had

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has refused time and again to say his team are in the title race, so it’s been left for his opposite number at Anfield, Arne Slot, to do it for him. The Liverpool coach said that Maresca’s Chelsea had been the only team he felt had outplayed his side all year:

“It was one of the games [when Liverpool beat them 2-1 in October], maybe the only game, where I felt the other team was better than us during that game. That’s not to say for the long term they are better than us but during the game they had more ball possession than us and were threatening us more than any other team until now,” Slot said.

“I’m not there to judge which position they will end in the league table. I have to focus on my own team but Chelsea have been impressive this season so far, that’s for sure.”

It’s great to hear it from a rival manager, but the evidence is there for us all to see – Chelsea are one of the best teams around, so far this season.