Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel believes that Manchester City and Liverpool are not on their radar after they suffered a heavy pre-season defeat against Arsenal.
His side were beaten 4-0 by their London rivals, with Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Albert Sambi Lokonga all netting for the Gunners in Orlando.
It was a heavy defeat in the final match of their pre-season tour across the United States, and they will come back to the UK having won just one of their summer fixtures so far.
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They have one test remaining, with a trip to Udinese at the end of July in the diary as they prepare to compete on all fronts in the new campaign.
Chelsea finished third in the Premier League last season, with City and Liverpool emerging as the runaway favourites for the title towards the end of the campaign.
They haven’t won the Premier League since 2017, and now the gap between them and the aforementioned duo is widening as the years progress.
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Tuchel spoke after the defeat and revealed his thoughts on what is next for the Blues, with the result against Mikel Arteta’s side a wakeup call for the World Champions.
He said: "Given our last two weeks, our game today, we should not mention the two teams in front of us.
“We got absolutely beaten by a team that does not play Champions League football next season and finished behind us. But at the moment, they seem far ahead of us."
He later touched upon the effect pre-season has on a team’s season, saying: "My personal feeling, I don’t know if I ever lost a match in pre-season 4-0.
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“I can't remember not winning two matches in a row in pre-season. I’m a huge fan of a strong pre-season in everything: atmosphere, feeling, performance, belief.
"I am superstitious but not in a way that I say bad pre-season has to mean a bad season. That makes no sense to me. I am in it, a part of it, and need to find solutions.
"We fly home now and we have one-and-a-half days only, on Tuesday we need to present solutions, we need to present actions.
“Me and the coaching staff, together with the team, need to step up and find a way through this because it hurts at the moment."
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Both Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly featured in the match, with the former starting and the latter coming off the bench.
They are the club’s newest additions for the summer, and they are set to be followed by signings in the window.
Chelsea will face Udinese on Friday, and will then return to the UK to prepare for their Premier League opener.
Tuchel’s side will travel to Goodison Park to face Everton in their first game, with the Blues setting their sights on more glory.
Topics: Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal
Robert Calcutt