Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has delivered a brutal verdict on Chelsea's Premier League ambitions, stating the Blues have "no chance" of winning the title this season.
Neville's damning assessment after Leeds defeat
The former Manchester United defender's comments came in the wake of Chelsea's disappointing 3-1 away defeat to a struggling Leeds United side on Wednesday night. This result followed a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in a top-of-the-table London derby, a match in which midfielder Moises Caicedo was sent off.
Despite a strong start to the 2025-26 campaign under manager Enzo Maresca, which had sparked talk of a potential title challenge, Neville believes the performance at Elland Road exposed fatal flaws in the squad.
Where Chelsea fall short for a title challenge
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville was unequivocal. "I don’t think they can win the title. In fact, I don’t think they’ve got a chance," he stated. He then proceeded to highlight three critical areas where he believes Chelsea are not at the required standard.
Neville specifically questioned the quality of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, the centre-back pairing, and the club's centre-forwards. "They will be in the top four or five, no problem, but when you talk about winning the league, they are short in goal, short at centre back and short up top," he explained.
He elaborated further, claiming: "Their centre forwards, centre backs and goalkeepers aren’t good enough to be title winners. Chelsea’s team is well built, it’s got an incredible amount of talent, but the centre-backs tonight were poor in every way."
John Terry echoes defensive concerns
Neville was not alone in criticising Chelsea's rearguard. Club legend John Terry also tore into the defensive display against Leeds, suggesting it could force Maresca to abandon his rotation policy.
Analysing the game on social media, Terry fumed: "Goal from a set piece, individual mistakes defensively, clearly not good enough." He predicted the manager might now decide, "'Okay rotations not for me moving forward, I know my best starting 13-14 players and I’ll stick with that.'"
The consensus from these high-profile analyses is clear: while Chelsea possess talent and may secure a Champions League place, their defensive vulnerabilities and lack of elite quality in key positions are seen as insurmountable obstacles in a title race against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City this season.
