GARY NEVILLE believes Chelsea have a “great” chance of winning the Premier League title as he hailed the club’s dogged resilience.
The Blues moved back to the top of the table on Saturday after winning 1-0 away at local rivals Brentford having survived a second half onslaught from the Bees.
It was the west Londoners’ sixth top-flight win from their opening eight games and fifth clean sheet.
Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy put in a man of the match performance at the Brentford Community Stadium as the visitors withstood huge late pressure.
Commenting on Chelsea, Neville highlighted the squad depth and mental toughness of Thomas Tuchel’s side who were missing Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic.
He told Sky Sports: “I think Chelsea can win the title.
“I know people will say Manchester City or Liverpool and you can’t disagree with that given what they’ve done over the last three or four years.
“City’s performance at Chelsea a few weeks ago was incredible, but I do feel this Chelsea team are resilient and are tough to play against.
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“I can’t think that any team in the league would like to play against them.
“I know Brentford have enjoyed the last 10 to 15 minutes, but this was a tough game for them for the first 70-80 minutes.
“They couldn’t get into it, they had to change and they had a bit of joy at the end.
“That was a Chelsea team that had a few players missing as well, and they’ve got so many to come back.
“They had so many good players coming off the bench too, so I feel they’ve got a great shout of winning the title.”
He added: “You’d have to still say Manchester City are the favourites for the title, and I picked them at the start of the season.
“But Chelsea have played Arsenal, Tottenham, City and Liverpool and only lost once. They’re top of the league despite having a really tough start.
“[Romelu] Lukaku has not been at his best, either, which is another good sign.
“They’re top of the league and their star striker isn’t firing when you know he will at some point.
“I think Chelsea’s squad is really strong and we’ve seen today that even without a couple of centre-backs, they can produce a strong performance.
“I’m saying City, but I’m saying Chelsea could go close, if not win it.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
