Chelsea

Chelsea

Premier League • England

Chelsea ‘can’t win Premier League’ as Carragher identifies trio dragging them down

Jamie Carragher and Enzo Maresca, Chelsea

Jamie Carragher does not feel Chelsea can win the Premier League with their current side

Though Chelsea find themselves in a strong position in the Premier League, Jamie Carragher admits he “can’t see someone winning” it with a trio of players they have at their disposal.

The Blues have now gone clear of Arsenal for second place in the Premier League. The London pair were level on points before the Gunners drew to Fulham and Chelsea came from behind to beat rivals Tottenham.

But despite them being two points ahead of third and four points – before Liverpool’s game in hand – off first, Carragher feels Chelsea cannot win the Premier League with Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill and Robert Sanchez in the side.

“I still look at the goalkeeper and two centre-backs, Badiashile who played today, and I just think I can’t see someone winning the Premier League with that goalkeeper and without a real standout centre-back,” Carragher told Sky Sports.

“I think you’d say City winning it with Ederson and [Ruben] Dias, Liverpool with [Virgil] van Dijk and Alisson, [Chelsea] going back to Petr Cech and John Terry. Those figures, you think, that you need to win a title, I still think Chelsea are a little bit short in those areas.”

Carragher’s Sky Sports colleague, Jamie Redknapp, feels Chelsea are “right in the mix” and can contend for the title for “three or four years” due to the job Enzo Maresca has done since becoming their manager.

Trio some of Chelsea’s worst rated

According to Fotmob, Sanchez was Chelsea’s worst-rated player against Tottenham, with a rating of 5.4.

Colwill was then the next worst rated, at 5.9, and Badiashile was not much higher, with a 6.4 rating.

There were times in the game when none of the trio covered themselves in glory. For Dominic Solanke’s goal, while Colwill was undone by some good striker play, with Solanke moving to make contact with a cross at the last second, the defender was unable to stop him from receiving the ball.

Both Colwill and Badiashile could have perhaps defended Dejan Kulusevski’s goal better, when the Spurs man was able to run across the front of the box with the ball, unchallenged, and with no defender able to block his shot into the corner.

Meanwhile, Sanchez found himself outside his posts for Heung-min Son’s goal, expecting a shot, which meant when the ball was played across the box, he was out of position, giving the attacker more of the goal to aim at.

Chelsea round-up: Defender exit mooted

Another Chelsea defender could soon leave, with Tosin Adarabioyo, who only joined in the summer, courted by West Ham, who feel he could be tempted by the move.

A potential replacement in the Blues’ backline is Illia Zabarnyi, who has impressed Chelsea scouts for a while, including when he helped Bournemouth to keep a clean sheet against Tottenham in December.

Meanwhile, it’s believed Chelsea will welcome offers of at least £30million for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, accepting defeat on their summer signing.

And though Mykhailo Mudryk is being linked with other clubs, his agent has suggested he only has eyes for getting into Chelsea’s starting XI.

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