Enzo Maresca makes punchy Arsenal claim as he considers new Chelsea target

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca admits there is a big gap between Arsenal and the Blues but would like to chase the Gunners down in the Premier League for second place this season

Enzo Maresca has claimed the gap between Chelsea and Arsenal is “quite big” after five years of Mikel Arteta.

But the Italian reckons his Blues could still overtake the Gunners in the race for second place this season if they win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Chelsea’s 5-0 humiliation at Arsenal last April sealed the fate of Mauricio Pochettino and led to yet another managerial change at the Bridge.

Arteta has been in charge since December 2019 and won one FA Cup while Chelsea have won four international trophies during this period. But the Gunners are now six points clear of fourth-placed Chelsea and in the Champions League quarter-finals for a second consecutive season.

“The gap? It’s quite big,” said the former Leicester City boss. “The reason why is because they are working with the same manager for five years, so the difference is quite important. With the same players, they have already played some important games. Our target, our duty, is to close that gap between us and them.

“At this moment, the table says the difference is six points, so we are quite close, but we still have nine (10) games to go.”

But a revenge Emirates victory would close the Premier League gap to only three points – and extend Chelsea’s winning streak to five games.

“Second? It could be a target, for sure,” Maresca acknowledged. “It’s our duty to do our best, but at the same time, the target for us is Sunday’s game. And then game after game to see how we can go close.”

Pochettino had challenged his Chelsea team to “show this is Chelsea Football Club, not Cole Palmer Football Club” when the England star was out injured last April.

Now Palmer, who missed a penalty against Leicester, is on a barren run of 10 games without a goal in a Chelsea team needing a new striker next season to back up the injured Nicolas Jackson. Arsenal will also be in the summer market after this strikerless London derby.

“It’s quite a strange for both because we have all of them injured,” added Maresca. “But I think they are trying to find a solution, we are trying to find a solution at the same time.”

After setting up a Conference League quarter-final against Legia Warsaw, the Italian was irritable when questioned further on the different managerial polices of the two London clubs.

“Chelsea is going to follow the model that they want to follow,” he said. “They don’t need to copy Arsenal.”

And after refusing to call Fabian Hurzeler a “top manager” before the defeat at Brighton last month, Maresca was only slightly more expansive about his former West Ham midfielder Declan Rice. “Top player,” he said. “At this moment he is a top player.”

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