Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has identified Manchester City and Liverpool as the ‘benchmark for consistency,’ as he expects five teams to battle it out for the Premier League title next season.
In his recent interview with Sky Sports, the German manager delivered his verdict on the Premier League title race for the upcoming season.
Tuchel backed Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur and Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United to be competitive in the title race, while he expects his Blues side to close the gap on reigning holders Man City.
“It will be a super tough race,” he said.
“Manchester United will be in the race. Tottenham will be in the race with Antonio Conte, for sure.
“We want to stay in the race, and Liverpool and Man City do everything to make their squads bigger and they’ve set the standard so high.”
While Ten Hang will take something special to get an out-of-sorts Man United back into the title race next term, Conte has already proved his credentials at Spurs this season.
Since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm in November, the Italian manager steered Tottenham into next season’s Champions League, courtesy of an electric form down the final stretch of the season.
Chelsea had to settle for an underwhelming third-place Premier League finish in 2021/22, even though they were in the title frame until January.
However, a lacklustre run of form in the second half of the season threw the Pensioners’ top-four credentials into doubt at one point.
Despite securing Champions League qualification for the fourth season running, Tuchel’s side finished a staggering 19 points behind back-to-back champions Man City.
Indeed, the Cityzens and Liverpool, who were embroiled in a breathtaking title run-in until the final moments of the 2021/22 season, were miles ahead of other Premier League teams in both performance and excitement. Fans flocked to TV screens and soccer streams online to watch the final day of football as Man City won the title after going behind against Aston Villa. In contrast, other teams had little to play for, although Tottenham did secure Champions League football in a routine win over Norwich.
That means that not only Chelsea but Man United, Spurs and Arsenal, among others, have to cover substantial ground on the two best-performing English clubs.
Pep Guardiola’s Man City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool lost five games combined in the recently completed Premier League campaign, one less than third-placed Chelsea.
The remaining 17 sides all hit double-digits in terms of top-flight defeats, highlighting an unapralleled dominance the two leading clubs established in 2021/22.
It took the Cityzens 93 points to be crowned the Premier League winners, while the Reds finished runners-up with 92, which would be enough to acquire them the title in 25 of the Premier League’s 30 seasons.
Tuchel will have to work his socks off over the summer to reinforce his squad, especially with defensive trio – Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta – on their way out of Stamford Bridge.
But much will depend on the ongoing takeover.
Roman Abramovich, who has put Chelsea up for sale amid sanctions the UK government imposed on him due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will soon hand over the ownership reins to the the Todd Boehly-led consortium.
After receiving legal guarantees that the Russian billionaire will not benefit from the sale, UK officials are on the verge of sanctioning the takeover.
That will enable Tuchel to strengthen his depleted squad in the summer as part of his bid to close the gap on the leading Premier League duo, whom he failed to beat in all league meetings in 2021/22.
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