Tim Sherwood names Arsenal’s biggest rival for the title and snubs Chelsea

Tim Sherwood claims Chelsea will not be the ‘nearest challengers’ to Premier League title favourites Arsenal this season.

Chelsea can cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table to just three points when Mikel Arteta’s side visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Arsenal have not won the Premier League since 2004 but look well-placed to do so this season following a sensational first-half to the season.

The Gunners have not only lose just once in 12 league games but also conceded only six goals – a third of which came in a 2-2 draw with Sunderland at the start of the month.

Chelsea prepare to host Arsenal having won five of their last six games and thumping La Liga champions Barcelona last time out.

Enzo Maresca’s side only finished fourth in the Premier League last season – securing their Champions League qualification on the final day – but look much improved this term.

A number of pundits view Chelsea as Arsenal’s biggest rivals for the title but Sherwood has overlooked the Blues and backed Manchester City to be the ‘nearest challengers’.

Man City have struggled for consistency this season – losing almost a third of their league games – but moved back above Chelsea into second with a nervy 3-2 win over Leeds United on Saturday.

A City win looked inevitable when they raced into a two-goal lead Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol, but Leeds equalised through second-half goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha.

Manchester City were minutes away from another deflating result when Foden scored his second of the afternoon in injury time to earn the hosts a narrow win.

Speaking before Saturday’s Premier League fixtures, Sherwood said on Sky Sports: ‘I thought the north London derby was a huge game of football because if Arsenal lost that they would be going to Chelsea on the back of a defeat and that would have been difficult.

‘But I think they beat Chelsea now. I don’t see anyone challenging them this season.

‘I think the nearest challengers will come from the team with the experience of being able to win the league and that’s Man City. They will be the nearest challengers.

‘We asked if Arsenal could cope with the injuries and they have, players have come in and performed.

‘They’ve got players like Declan Rice who is an AI player. If you wanted to make a player to be a manager’s dream it would be Rice, he’s got everything.

‘The only thing missing is trophies but once they get over the line – which I think they will – everyone else has got a problem.’

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s huge London derby, Chelsea boss Maresca said it was ‘too early’ to declare his side title contenders.

Maresca repeatedly downplayed Chelsea’s title credentials last season and was proved right as the west Londoners finished 15 points behind Liverpool.

‘For me, it’s very early,’ the Italian told reporters on Friday. ‘It’s too early in any case if we win or don’t win [against Arsenal].

‘It’s November, there’s five or six months to go. It’s important where we are [in the table] in February and March and we’ll see if we can achieve something important.’

Arsenal manager Arteta disagrees with Maresca, however, and says Chelsea ‘deserve’ to be in the Premier League title race.

Asked whether he viewed Chelsea as title challengers, Arteta said: ‘I think we are all there, and they are there because they fully deserve what they have done in the last few years.

‘I think the squad that they assembled, the numbers that they have, the quality that they have, the number of coaches they have it makes sense that what is happening there is very, very positive and they deserve to be there.

‘It is one of the teams that I enjoy the most watching and they have a lot of fluidity, they have a lot of threat, they have a lot of individual talent.

‘They are very clear what they want to do and that’s why they are very tough.’

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