Micah Richards doubts Chelsea's credentials, backs Manchester City as Arsenal's threat

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards has said Chelsea can not compete with Arsenal for the Premier League title this season. He believes that Pep Guardiola's team will be the only challengers until the end of the season.

Micah Richards makes big claims on Chelsea

Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Richards said that the Blues can give a tough fight to Arsenal in the season, but do not have enough to take it till the final day. He added that Manchester City have displayed that they can do well even when Haaland doesn't score and said:

“I think Chelsea can challenge them, but I don’t think they’ll have enough. I think Man City are still the ones who can challenge them all the way, even though they’re conceding easy goals for their standards. I say that because they’ve got someone like Haaland, who didn’t score against Leeds, but Foden stepped up.”

Manchester United icon Gary Neville also made similar claims last week, saying that Enzo Maresca's team will perform well, but end up battling for Top 4 spot at the end. He said on 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."

Enzo Maresca's team sit six points adrift of leaders Arsenal after 13 games this season. Manchester City are second in the table with 25 points, five behind the table toppers.

Chelsea icon makes big claim about Arsenal title challenge

John Terry spoke on his TikTok account ahead of the London derby, saying that it would be one of the two teams to lift the title at the end of the season. He added that Liverpool are out of the title race and said:

"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."

Arsenal have not won the league since the 2003/04 season. They are also trophyless under the coaching.