Enzo Maresca: Chelsea improving but still not ready to compete with top teams

The former Leicester boss has consistently played down talk that his team could challenge for a first Premier League crown since 2017, but those protestations were made to look hollow as the Blues turned in their best performance of the season to move level on points with Arsenal.

“We are not ready to compete with Liverpool, Arsenal and (Manchester) City, for many reasons,” Maresca said.

“Just because we won today I’m not going to change my idea. We’re not ready for that. But the good thing is we are improving and hopefully very soon we can be there.”

This was possibly the most complete performance by a Chelsea side since Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium bought the club in 2022.

Certainly it summed up the rapid strides taken since Maresca took over in the summer, combining dogged determination not to allow Villa to settle on the ball with a synergy in attack that brought three wonderful, and wonderfully different, goals.

Nicolas Jackson got the first, knocking the ball in off the post after ferocious work from Marc Cucurella first to dispossess Jaden Philogene in midfield and then to charge into the box to cross.

The second was a finely worked move finished off by Enzo Fernandez, his second goal in two games.

The Chelsea captain combined with Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer in the build-up before flicking the ball up and pinging it with the outside of his boot into the corner.

A Palmer special capped things off in the 83rd minute, curled beautifully into the top corner to further enhance Chelsea’s top-four credentials.

“We need to improve many things, we can attack better, defend better,” said Maresca.

“You have to live moments to get better. This kind of players, some of them in their experience have played only one final, the Carabao Cup final (in February).

“It’s been the most important game they’ve played. You need to live moments to get better when we start to get these moments, we’ll get better and we can compete.

“Arsenal, Liverpool, (Manchester) City players have all lived finals and competed for titles. We’re going to be there soon but it’s the reason we are still far and not ready to compete.”

The only mark against Chelsea’s afternoon came when Wesley Fofana was forced off in the second half, with Maresca confirming the defender could be out for some time.

“It’s a hamstring problem, it usually requires three, four, five weeks, could lose 10 or 12 games”, he said. “The way he’s playing it’s a big loss for us, but we have more players and we will find a solution. It’s normal when you play this number of games.”

Villa boss Unai Emery, whose side are now winless in eight games in all competitions and are now 12th, reflected on the difficulties of juggling Champions League football with domestic duties.

“We know this year is going to be more difficult,” he said. “Because some teams are feeling strong like Chelsea. We will try again to recover our confidence in what we are doing and trying to understand why the year is becoming more difficult.

“We built last year so fast. We’re enjoying it now playing in Europe, but the league is the most important competition and we have to try to come back.”