Chelsea players gather ahead of the 2025 UEFA Conference League Final (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Chelsea lost 3-1 to Leeds United in the Premier League tonight.
The Blues have been in great form of late and will be thoroughly disappointed with the way they lost against Leeds today.
Former Premier League star Gary Neville has slammed the London club for their mediocre performance against Leeds. He also stressed that Chelsea are likely to qualify for the Champions League, but not enough to win the Premier League title.
Gary Neville makes his case to Chelsea
He went on to explain three main reasons why the Blues are likely to fall behind. He believes that the central defenders are very mediocre and that the goalkeepers are not of the same standard as winning the Premier League. He also questioned the quality of the club’s forwards.
“Chelsea will probably finish fourth or fifth, but that’s it,” he said in an email. “Those centre-backs were poor, slow on the ball and slow in defense, the goalkeeper is not a title-winning goalkeeper and the forwards are not at the level to win a title against a team like Chelsea.”
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Chelsea need more quality
It will be interesting to see if Chelsea can fill in the weaknesses in the team in the coming weeks. They recently won the UEFA Europa Conference League and the Club World Cup. They will aim to build on that and push towards the league title and the Champions League. To achieve that, they need better players at their disposal.
Signing quality players will help overcome the instability issue. They have put in some impressive performances against top teams in recent weeks, but the defeat against Leeds United showed they are vulnerable and inconsistent.
Maresca is disappointed with today’s loss and will be demanding a strong response from his players.
Chelsea have said they would need between £70m and £80m to sign Barcelona in 2026.
