Arne Slot makes Chelsea Premier League title race admission amid Trent Alexander-Arnold exit

Arne Slot expected Chelsea to rival Liverpool in the Premier League title race this season. The Blues enjoyed a brilliant start to the campaign, climbing to second in the English top flight.

At one stage, Chelsea were considered to be potential title contenders. Unfortunately for Enzo Maresca, though, the west Londoners had a bit of a wobble over the festive period, falling well behind Liverpool and Arsenal.

Despite injuries to some big names and a quiet January transfer window, Chelsea have managed to hold onto a UEFA Champions League qualification place. With three games to go, the Blues are fifth, level on points with Newcastle United in fourth.

Speaking to reporters following Chelsea's 3-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, Slot was asked whether Maresca's side could be a threat to his title defence next term. The Reds manager said: "I expected them to be a threat this season because at Anfield they were better than us.

"They were so close to us. It was a complete surprise to me that we are now 19 points clear of them or something like that. I didn't feel that at all when we played them.

"That tells you how well we did, probably, if a team like this with so much quality, and also not only in the first XI, but in the complete squad, that we are able to be 19 points ahead of them is a big compliment for our players."

Slot was very complimentary of Chelsea when they visited Anfield back in October 2024. The Blues gave Liverpool a run for their money, marginally losing 2-1.

Speaking to reporters ahead of his first meeting with Chelsea, Slot was asked if it could be Liverpool's 'biggest challenge' in the league so far. The Dutchman said: "If you look at the league table, it is.

"I think Manchester United is a very good team, a top club in England that has spent a lot of money to even make the team better again. Same for Chelsea in this season. Chelsea does really well.

"If you look at the league table, then they are the ones that might be our toughest opponent. But it's not always about the league table. Sometimes it's about the form of the day, it's about their game plan."

Then, after the game, Slot heaped great praise on Chelsea. He said: "I don’t think we outplayed Chelsea, we certainly didn’t. I think they were more dominant than us with the ball.

"In an ideal world, I would have seen us dominate the complete game like we did in so many other games. We are not there yet but the good thing about this team and the result was that if you face a team like Chelsea, you see a team that is fighting for every centimetre and for every moment and that is what we did.

"I’m hoping in the future, hopefully in the near future, that when we play a game like this we are more dominant than we were against Chelsea. But that probably says a lot about Chelsea as well.

"A lot of people in England were making fun of Chelsea earlier in the season for investing so much money and bringing in all these players that weren’t in the squad but in my opinion they have done really well in the last two of three years bringing so many talented players in."

Slot added: "They have such a strong squad with such a good manager that they will be up there in the coming years. That is my opinion, let’s see if I am right..."

The Liverpool manager was right in some respects, as Chelsea stormed to victory at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. With Trent Alexander-Arnold announcing his departure from Anfield, the Blues will fancy their chances against the Reds next season.

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