Are Chelsea really in the Premier League title race?

Chelsea sit just three points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal ahead of their game against Spurs on Sunday, but nobody is really talking about Chelsea as title contenders.

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Are we sleeping on Chelsea?

Their 2-0 win at Burnley on Saturday was their third-straight shutout victory in the Premier League and they've won five of their last six in the league.

With a huge game in the UEFA Champions League coming up against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday followed by another massive clash against Arsenal at home next Sunday, we are about to find out if this young Chelsea side can hang in the title race.

I asked Moises Caicedo about Chelsea being in the title race after their thrilling late win against Liverpool last month, and the Blues' player of the season so far was trying to stay calm.

"It’s too early to say," Caicedo explained. "For sure we want to win the Premier League but we’re all step-by-step because it’s Premier League and is tough but we want to do our best in this Premier League this season... The Premier League is so difficult, you need to be consistent so we show our quality. We show our character on the pitch and for sure we want to continue with this momentum."

We already know Chelsea have an extremely deep squad after a huge amount of spending in recent years on young, talented players and that has helped them massively during a really unlucky run with injuries with superstar Cole Palmer out for a while now, plus constant changes in midfield and defense as injuries and suspensions piled up in recent months.

Manager Enzo Maresca has created an identity and flexibility about this Chelsea side because, yes, they love to keep the ball and players have the freedom to drift across the pitch, but they also can be lethal on the counter and have become really tough to break down as improvement have been made in defense.

Chelsea are flexible and durable and they are learning. After their Club World Cup success in the summer they are still full of confidence and even though the odd bump in the road has appeared along the way this season (a draw at Qarabag in the Champions League and defeats at home to Brighton and Sunderland), their ceiling is extremely high.

Once Palmer returns and players coming in and out of the team gain full fitness, this Chelsea side are a scary proposition. Their squad is deeper than any other team in the Premier League and if they can keep finding new ways to win games, they'll hang in this title race all season long.

These upcoming games at home against Barcelona and Arsenal this week are going to teach us an awful lot about how good this Chelsea side is.

"When you beat big teams it’s so important for us, to have confidence," Caicedo explained.

This Chelsea side is already feeling confident this season and the upcoming week is going to be intriguing. Pretty soon most people will be talking about Chelsea being in the title race.

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