Chelsea legend John Terry believes that only one side can challenge Arsenal in the race to win the Premier League title this season.
The Gunners moved six points clear at the top of the table after a thumping 4-1 win over arch-rvials Tottenham at the Emirates on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s side have finished as runners-up in the past seasons, but now look in a commanding position to finally get over the line and end their long-running league drought.
Defending champions Liverpool look a long way off he pace, with an alarming 3-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest meaning Arne Slot’s side have now lost six of their last seven games in the league.
And Manchester City saw their title hopes dented after Pep Guardiola’s side suffered an untimely 2-1 defeat away at Newcastle.
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With City and Liverpool trailing by seven and 11 points respectively, it is, in fact, Chelsea who are currently Arsenal’s closest challengers in second place.
Enzo Maresca’s made it three wins and three clean sheets on the bounce with a 2-0 away win at Burnley on Saturday, and have the chance to really throw their hat into the mix as contenders when they host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge next weekend.
And Terry believes that his former side look like the only team capable of challenging the Gunners for the title at present.
‘A big game at the weekend now as Arsenal come to the Bridge where it’s going to be a very big game,’ Terry said in a video on TikTok.
‘I’m not saying it’s going to be a title decider but I think it’s going to be one of the two teams [who win the league].
‘For me, Liverpool are 100 per cent out of the title race. Liverpool look they’re really struggling at the moment.’
Speaking about Chelsea’s hard-fought win over Burnley, he added: ‘A good away from the boys, really important to pick up the three points, especially after sustaining a little bit of pressure in the first half from Burnley.
‘I said they would try and hit us on the counterattack and they definitely did that in the first half and we had three unbelievable blocks defensively.
‘I think the only thing for me in the second half we probably needed to take our chances, espeically when we come up against the bigger and better sides.’
While Terry has hope for his former side, not everyone is convinced, with Gary Neville still confident that Chelsea will fade away from contention as the season drags on.
He told Sky Sports: ‘That will be really interesting for Chelsea next week and a good measure for them. What we’ll see with Chelsea during the season is they’ll win a lot of football matches that we think they should do.
‘They’ll tease us and they’ll get close but then they will drop points and maybe drop down to fifth or sixth and then come up to fourth.
‘That’s where we’ll see them move between sixth and second and third and that where we’ll see Chelsea operate in the season.
‘Champions League football, they’ve got quite a lot of young players, they’ve spent a fortune so it’s probably not happening as quickly as they want to I don’t think they are anywhere near a team that can win the league yet. They look well short in a couple of areas.
‘But they’re good, they’re a good team. They are not a great side, I don’t think they’ve got great players.
‘They’re a good team with a good squad and should be with the investment they’ve made and I think they will finish in the top four.
‘They will get close and they’ll tease us and have us thinking are they the closest challengers but I don’t think that will emerge as the season goes on. But next weekend is a real tough test and that’s where you find out about these types of teams.
‘Chelsea will want to win the title in the next couple of years but they don’t seem close to it at this moment.’
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