Published : 2 days ago, on 06/12/2024

(Reuters) – Chelsea are scoring goals for fun but still have many areas to work on if they hope to match up to the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool, manager Enzo Maresca said on Friday ahead of a Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur.

Chelsea, who are second in the standings, thrashed Southampton 5-1 on Wednesday and have scored a league-leading 31 goals in 14 games.

They have found the net 57 times in 22 matches across all competitions this season, their best-ever goals-per-game (2.6) ratio in a campaign.

However, they rank joint-sixth in the league for clean sheets, having only shut out their opponents three times.

“I don’t think we are there and ready to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool and City. We have to do many more things good, not just score goals. Avoid conceding goals,” Maresca told reporters.

“Defensively we are doing well but we are just focused on Sunday and then the next one.

“We are not thinking about April, May or June. It’s too early. Things can change quick in football. The focus is Sunday, today’s session and tomorrow’s session.”

On Sunday, Chelsea face a Spurs side that have struggled for consistency and suffered a 1-0 loss at Bournemouth on Thursday, less than two weeks after an impressive 4-0 win over City.

Asked which version of Spurs he expected to face, Maresca said: “They have very good players and a very good manager. What kind of problems they have, I don’t know. But they are a fantastic team.

“You see the results, two weeks ago they beat City, so they are a very good team.”

Maresca added that winger Mykhailo Mudryk was unavailable for the cross-town trip due to illness.

The Italian manager also elaborated on his comments about Noni Madueke, who he previously criticised for not training consistently despite the winger being named player of the match in the win over Southampton.

“Overall he’s working well since we start. Sometimes he drops a little bit. He’s not allowed to drop. In terms of numbers, he’s doing fantastic with goals and assists,” Maresca said.

“Off the ball when we ask him to defend and press he’s doing very well. The only reason I said this the other day is because I want the best from Noni and to get the best you have to push him. If he relaxes a little bit, it’s wrong.

“I try to be, not a friend, but close to the players. Sometimes between friends, when you say something wrong to your friend he’s not happy. He has to know that what you say is because you want to take care of him.”

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru)