"That’s ridiculous" - Paul Merson makes bold Premier League title comments after Chelsea and Liverpool chances emerge
Paul Merson has insisted that Chelsea are in the Premier League title race along with Liverpool and Arsenal. The pundit believes that the Opta chances are not accurate and the Blues need to be given higher than the current 5.8 percent.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Merson was not happy with the Blues getting just a 5.8% chance in Opta title chances, with Arsenal getting 13.2%. He believes that Enzo Maresca's side deserve better odds as they do not have the Carabao Cup distractions and have a different team for European football.
He said (via Metro):
"Well that 5.8 percent needs to be biggest, whatever happens. That does need to be bigger, that’s ridiculous. Arsenal need consistency, they need consistency as Mikel Arteta said, they’ve drawn their last two games.
"Drawing at home to Everton, the chances they had, they’ve got to win those games, they’ve got to be more ruthless, they’ve got to put those teams away. Bit inconsistent but they’re right in there. Forget the two games in hand, if I was Liverpool I’d forget the two games in hand because that comes around, for me I look at the league like it is now."
"Arsenal are in it, I’d definitely be having Chelsea at more than 5.8 percent. The thing with Chelsea is they’ve got no distraction. They’re not in Europe, they’ve got another team for European football, Cole Palmer, none of them play. They’ve got no two-legged Carabao Cup games in January and February. Chelsea are in this 100 percent. But Arsenal are probably 13 percent and Chelsea five [percent] because they haven’t been in this position."
Enzo Maresca's men are two points behind Liverpool, having played a game more than the Reds. They can go on top of the table for the time being on Sunday (December 22) if they win at Everton as they play before Arne Slot's side take on Tottenham.
Chelsea are not in the title race, say the Blues
Enzo Maresca and his players have insisted that they are not in the Premier League title race this season. They have stated that the players are not ready and need to give the players time to develop.
Levi Colwill dismissed the question after the 4-3 win over Tottenham earlier this month. He stated that if they were in contention for the title, they would not have conceded twice in the opening minutes of the game. Cole Palmer also claimed that they were not ready and it was too early for them to be thinking about the title.
While Palmer and Colwill acknowledged the question, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke said they had no idea about it.