Chelsea defender David Luiz has indicated his club are still in the Premier League title race this season despite their 1-0 defeat against Leicester City on Saturday.
Jamie Vardy scored the only goal of the game, during which every area of the Chelsea side ranging from defence to attack looked lethargic.
The defeat marks Maurizio Sarri’s team’s second top-flight loss of the month following their 2-1 defeat against Wolves earlier in December. It also marked their third defeat of the season. The result leaves the Blues in fourth place in the league standings and 11 points adrift of first-placed Liverpool. They are also now just above fifth place Arsenal on goal difference.
At the moment, it looks very hard for Sarri’s men to challenge for a title this season. Liverpool are sailing at the moment while the Blues continue to drop vital points. Realistically, targeting a strong top-four finish as well as one or two cup tournaments could be a realistic target for the men from West London.
The Blues started the season in fine form and were on a 12-game unbeaten streak at one point. Up until their defeat against Spurs, they were the only undefeated team in all competitions across Europe’s top five leagues.
Despite the fact that his team do not look to be on par with Liverpool at this point in time, Luiz is confident that his side can still mount a Premier League title challenge.
“Everybody knows the Premier League is so difficult, we have to think step by step,” he told Sky Sports News. “Of course the boss tries to give us the maths and to give us one direction to follow, and we are trying to get the points to be there and fighting for the title, not just for the top four.”
