'Stopping Liverpool right now seems impossible'

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca acknowledges that trying to compete with Liverpool right now is a very difficult task. As Liverpool keeps investing strongly and tops the Premier League, Chelsea is facing a series of poor results and needs to manage their squad carefully before important games.

Arne Slot’s Liverpool currently leads the standings Premier League by a 5-point margin over Arsenal after a flawless start to their title defense. Meanwhile, Chelsea has only earned 1 point from their last two matches, drawing 2-2 with Brentford and losing 1-2 to Manchester United, trailing the leaders by 7 points.

Speaking to ESPN about Liverpool, Maresca said: "If they continue like this, I believe it will be very hard to catch up with them, not just for us but for all other clubs. They have done an excellent job since last year, and the players they chose to sign clearly show the club’s intention to keep conquering the Premier League and Champions League, which is very obvious."

This past summer, Liverpool broke transfer records twice, signing Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee that could reach £116 million and spending £125 million on Alexander Isak, totaling over £400 million on new players. This is clearly a strong move to reinforce their squad for the new season.

Chelsea has yet to win in three consecutive matches, including a loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week. In the Carabao Cup, they will face Lincoln in the third round on Wednesday. Despite the significant quality gap between the teams, Maresca remains cautious: "Personally, I would prefer to face a Premier League team rather than a League One side because matches like these worry me the most since you might underestimate the opponent. That’s something we need to avoid, do our job well, and then focus on the Premier League [against Brighton] on Saturday."

Regarding personnel, Cole Palmer is likely to miss out after leaving the pitch in the first half due to a groin injury in the loss at Old Trafford. Maresca shared: "The medical staff haven’t mentioned surgery to me. I don’t know if it will happen in the next few days or weeks, but honestly, I don’t think so. However, we need to protect Palmer 100%. Because of the Club World Cup and never having a break, we have to manage and protect different players, and Palmer is one of them."

The Chelsea boss added: "We will have a meeting with the medical team soon to decide the best solution for him. This isn’t a clear-cut injury. Some days he feels good and the pain disappears, but other days it worsens, so we have to manage it day by day."

Given the current situation, Chelsea is expected to field many academy players against Lincoln to rest key players and give young talents a chance to showcase their abilities.

The new season has started, but early challenges are posing a big test for Chelsea in the Premier League title race. Liverpool, with strong investment and consistent form, is steadily establishing itself as the top contender for all trophies this season.

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