Chelsea snubbed as Jamie Carragher picks his three Premier League title favourites | OneFootball

Blues not included in top three title favourites

Jamie Carragher did not include Chelsea in his list of three Premier League title favourites.

Carragher, the former Liverpool defender, named Manchester City, Arsenal and Aston Villa as his top sides in the English top flight this term.

Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, meanwhile, were not mentioned, as the Blues sit fourth in the table.

The west Londoners are five points off Villa in third, despite getting back to winning ways against Everton on Saturday.

Before that, Chelsea had suffered a dip in form since their 3-0 win over Barcelona, losing to Leeds and Atalanta while drawing to Arsenal and Bournemouth.

Now, Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports, snubbed the Blues in his top three, citing one key player at City, Arsenal and Villa that could fire them all to the Premier League title.

"Can Villa win the title?” Carragher asked rhetorically.

“I don't think they can but if you are to win a title, and let's say Man City go on to win it, they have Erling Haaland, who is the best player in the league.

"If I look at Arsenal right now, I think of Declan Rice. If they go on and win the league, I see Rice as a player of the year candidate.

"But with Aston Villa, who could drive them to the title? Who is that special that they could be head and shoulders above everyone in the league?

"The one player I look at is Rogers.

"PFA Young Player of the Year before, could he now go on and be PFA Player of the Year this season and drag Villa really close to a league title."

Chelsea, meanwhile, have been missing their talismanic figure Cole Palmer for much of the campaign.

The England international had been struggling with a persistent groin injury which kept him out for an extended period, although he has now been reintegrated back into the first-team fold.

However, Maresca warned that Palmer was still not quite right, saying that the problem made “no sense”, while Palmer labelled his recovery as a “day to day thing” ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Cardiff in the Carabao Cup.