LONDON: Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca is not getting carried away with his young side's strong run of form, saying their 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday does nothing to change his view that the Blues are not contenders for the Premier League title this season.
Chelsea overwhelmed Villa from start to finish as Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer all scored fine goals that sent the Blues third in the league, level on 25 points with second-placed Arsenal before Manchester City's visit to Liverpool.
But Maresca said his side were still behind the north Londoners, Liverpool and Manchester City in terms of experience of big matches and the pressure of title campaigns.
"This kind of players, some of them, in their life, in their experience, they have played probably one final," the Italian said, recalling how Chelsea last season reached the League Cup final at Wembley.
"So you need to live moments to get better and when we start to get those moments, we will get better and we can compete," he said. "We are going to be there soon, but this is one of the reasons that we are still far and not ready to compete with those clubs."
For the Stamford Bridge faithful, Chelsea's progress so far under Maresca, in his first season in charge, has been hugely encouraging after two years spent largely marooned in mid-table.
Jackson's goal was his eighth in 13 Premier League games this campaign. Palmer also took his tally to eight and claimed his customary assist when he set up Fernandez who with Moises Caicedo was dominant in midfield as Villa appeared fatigued after a 0-0 midweek Champions League draw against Juventus.
Pedro Neto was a constant danger on the wing while Chelsea's defence and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez delivered the Blues' first home clean sheet in the league this season.
"(In) today's game it was very difficult to find one of them that was not good. I think we were all good and this is important," Maresca said.
There was some bad news for Chelsea however - central defender Wesley Fofana limped off after an hour and Maresca said he could be missing for the busy Christmas period with a hamstring injury.
"It's a big loss for us because he is doing fantastic," the coach said.
His Aston Villa counterpart Unai Emery paid tribute to the turnaround at Stamford Bridge under Maresca.
"Chelsea today showed ... this year is different," the Spaniard said. "They are feeling stronger. They don't have doubts like last year, for example. Their power and their capacity as well is higher."
Emery said he would focus on trying to restore Villa's sense of confidence after they failed to win for an eighth match in a row in all competitions, starting with Wednesday's home game against Brentford.
He said the extent of an hand injury suffered by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, which forced him off at half-time against Chelsea, was not yet clear. - Reuters