Owen narrows title race down to four teams; one ‘have a great shout’

Michael Owen says Chelsea “have a great shout” to win the Premier League this season after naming four contenders for the crown.

Former Liverpool and Man Utd frontman Owen does not think United can win this season’s title. Instead he named the four contenders as Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.

Jose Mourinho’s Spurs have only lost once so far this season to sit top of the Premier League after 10 matches. Champions Liverpool are just behind on goal difference, with Chelsea two points back, while City are six points off the pace.

It looks like being a widely contested title race  and Owen thinks the Premier League is “wide open”.

However, he limits the potential winners to just four.

He told BT Sport: “If ever there was a season where you think a team could win it who you didn’t fancy at the start, it’s this one. It’s wide open right now.

“But I still narrow it down to four teams: Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea and Tottenham. Chelsea have a great shout.”

A much-changed Chelsea side brushed Sevilla aside 4-0 on Wednesday to top their Champions League group.

 

 

 

Only one of their big-name summer arrivals featured too as Frank Lampard’s men showed their strength in depth.

Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva were all rested as Olivier Giroud plundered all four goals.

Owen added: “Chelsea are looking very good, Lampard has got them playing really well.

“They’re obviously doing well in the Premier League, but they’re flying in Europe. They made nine changes against Sevilla and were still brilliant. What a squad they’ve got.

“Giroud is probably the third choice striker at Chelsea and that shows their strength in depth.

“He has much better movement than he’s given credit for. It was a masterclass of finishing. It was pure class from Giroud tonight.”

Lampard delighted with Giroud

Meanwhile, Lampard has said that Giroud has made a strong case for a start against Leeds on Saturday after his four-goal haul against Sevilla.

Giroud netted a perfect hat-trick followed by a left-footed penalty to sweep aside the Spaniards in the Champions League.

Chelsea had earlier secured progression to the last 16, so victory was not crucial. However, Giroud’s display was just that in his hunt for more game time.

Indeed, it was the Frenchman who sent Chelsea to the knockout stages last week with a headed goal against Rennes.

Asked after Wednesday’s game about whether he has merited a start on Saturday, Lampard was guarded. However, he admitted to the size of the feat that Giroud had achieved.

“We’ll have to see – it’s a tight turnaround but it’s four goals in a game,” the manager told BT Sport.

“It’s not just his performance but when you play him and utilise his strengths and his speed, there’s a real balance in the rest of the team.”

The Chelsea boss: “Four goals at this level and the quality of the goals… the individual aspects from Olivier and the team aspects in the first half, from back to front the team were great.

“[It was an] amazing solo performance from Olivier. [I’m] delighted with him, delighted with the team. This is a difficult place to come. There were moments in the first half where it was tough and we dealt with it.”

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