Chelsea are probably classed as title race contenders at this point but I think Enzo Maresca is doing the right thing by saying they are not.
He knows how quickly things can change in the Premier League and he does have one of the youngest sides in the league. That means this is a new experience for the vast majority of his players.
Chelsea are very impressive and I liken it to where Aston Villa were this time last season. There was so much discussion on whether they were in the title race too, but they also showed it only takes a couple of bad weeks to take yourself out of it.
But Chelsea have scored 57 goals in 22 games, so there is no way you can rule them out as competition for Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal. All of the goals they have scored have helped them climb to second because they now have a better goal difference than Arsenal. It shows they are becoming more consistent.
Maresca has a wide range of attacking players and impact substitutes, which we saw in Jadon Sancho on Wednesday. He also has players like Nicolas Jackson who didn’t even get on the pitch to showcase their ability.
What I also find interesting, is that at the beginning of the season it was said to be a problem that they have so many players. But now at this point in the season, with them competing in the Conference League too, it is almost a strength of theirs.
The strength in depth is good as long as the manager is using them well and keeping everybody happy. Winning games helps to keep that happiness and you can see from the goal celebrations that they are collectively elated.
Cole Palmer did his classic ‘cold’ celebration on Wednesday and Sancho was right behind him doing the same thing. It feels like the vibes are really high for the whole team at this moment in time.
So credit to Chelsea and to their players because they have been heavily criticised in the past and they are now looking like the real deal.
They look like a team who could seriously challenge in the coming years and not just this year.
Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport’s Katie Stafford
