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The Blues are close behind their rivals for the league title and their coach said they must now fight for consistency.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has downplayed comparisons to Liverpool and Manchester City, and his team is increasingly inclined to push for the Premier League title.
Chelsea defeated Sheffield United 4-1 on Saturday, their fourth consecutive victory. The Blues are eight games unbeaten and have only lost once in the league this season: a 2-0 setback against Liverpool in September.
Liverpool faced rivals Man City on Sunday and drew 1-1 to go two points ahead of fifth-place Chelsea, with Leicester City one point ahead of the Reds in first place.
Lampard admits he is happy with the recent form but added that his team must remain humble when trying to match the consistency of their rivals.
“We have to prove ourselves, as the gap has now been too big for the level of consistency with two of the best teams in both world football and in the modern era in the Premier League,” Lampard told reporters at Zoom .
“So we have to understand where we are and be humble about it. We’re in a good time this weekend. It’s good for [Sheffield manager] Chris [Wilder] say we played well today so that’s fresh in all of our minds.
“Now is whether we can produce it regularly. That is the next question we have. I will not get too carried away.”
A title challenge could come sooner than many expected from the Blues, who spent £ 220 million ($ 275 million) in the summer transfer window but faced six new players with no preseason.
Lampard feels that his new players have started to build an understanding with the coaching staff who are seeing improved results.
“I never had a schedule, we missed a preseason, we had some injuries and I never set a goal for the first, two or three international breaks,” he added.
“I just want to work and get to a good level as soon as I can where I feel like I understand what I want, what the staff want and what the players want, understand each other. That’s never easy when you start the process, so I think we are in a good place.
“We may have lost some points because we are working in real time in the games. That is by the way, many teams will say this season with the way it has developed.”
Chelsea scored two more set pieces against Wilder’s team on Saturday as Hakim Ziyech’s deliveries were greeted by new defenders Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva.
Silva became the fourteenth different player to score for Chelsea this season and it was the sixth set piece goal for the club this season. Lampard said the skills of the new signings have led to an increased threat of dead ball situations.
“Yes, it is something we worked on last year,” he continued. “We were not happy to have conceded too many set pieces in games.
“They are a crucial part of the modern game and probably always have been, but apparently [more] So now that teams have lockdowns or plans to stop you [from] punctuation. We looked at it throughout the past season.
“The staff has certainly helped, we are bigger and more aggressive naturally through the staff on the team earlier in the season. The guys have shown focus through the work we’ve done on the field with them previously.
“We’ve spent time on it and there is a good mentality about them to be as good as we can to them. They make the game comfortable even though we played well. It may not have been a comfortable game so I’m very happy.” . with set pieces goals “.
