Former England goalkeeper David James claims Chelsea are the ‘team to beat’ in the Premier League ahead of rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.
Thomas Tuchel’s side emerged as the early pacesetters in the Premier League, winning nine of their first 12 league matches to move ahead of defending champions Man City and 2020 winners Liverpool.
But the Blues dropped points at home to Manchester United last month and suffered a 3-2 defeat to West Ham last week to fall behind their league title rivals.
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Chelsea also looked set to drop points against Leeds on Saturday, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side taking the lead and then levelling the game at 2-2 late on.
But Jorginho’s stoppage-time penalty gave Chelsea the three points and ensured they remain only one and two points behind Liverpool and Man City respectively.
‘I’m glad Chelsea won today because they are the team to beat for me,’ ex-goalkeeper James told Stadium Astro.
‘I’ve actually tipped them not to be top of the table come Christmas based on the games they’re got coming up. Man City and Liverpool’s fixtures are a lot more comfortable. ‘But everyone has struggled to a point. Last weekend there were tight wins [for Liverpool and Man City].
‘It’s a tough season but I think Chelsea are the team to beat. When you see Liverpool in this kind of determined form, stringing wins together, of course they are going to run them close.’
After Chelsea’s 3-2 win over Leeds, Chelsea manager Tuchel said: ‘When you play against Leeds you get wild games and you have to accept it. I liked the first half a lot and the way we found solutions.
‘The result was the result, we gave a cheap penalty away and had to live with it. The speech at half-time was to do it again and not worry about the result.
‘We made the game very intense in every position. Once we turned things around in our favour I had a feeling after the last two results [the defeat at West Ham and draw with Zenit] that we did not want to lose it and we did not take the risks anymore.
‘Leeds played stronger and stronger and they were taking risks because they had nothing to lose. ‘I’m happy we turned it around this time. We had to suffer. We needed this feeling back in the dressing room.’
