Enzo Maresca gives his verdict on Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes after lifting Blues to third in the table

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca does not believe Chelsea are in the Premier League title race despite being third in the table.

A win over Aston Villa on Sunday would mark a seventh in 13 league games under the Italian, who has made an impressive start since succeeding Mauricio Pochettino in the summer.

After inheriting a five-game winning streak that ended the team last season, Maresca has engineered the club's most consistent run since Todd Boehly's Clearlake Capital consortium took control two and a half years ago.

They are in the hunt to return to the Champions League after two seasons, but just as important is the 44-year-old's success in bringing order to what seemed a bloated, unbalanced side when he took charge.

Despite the rapid progress made under his leadership, Maresca was keen to play down suggestions that Chelsea could be the team to end Manchester City's four-year title run this season.

“No,” he said when asked if the Blues were in the race. 'I've often said I didn't like the pressure. I didn't like saying: yes, we are there, but we are not there.

'Arsenal are ahead of us, City are ahead of us and Liverpool are showing they are ahead of us. The most important thing is that we improve game after game and then we will see.

'For me it's not about the points or the table, but about the process and the programme. Five years together (Arsenal), nine together (City). Liverpool are different, but they haven't made that many changes from before. It's not about the difference in points on the table, it's about the time together.'

Chelsea are currently nine points behind leaders Liverpool and one point behind City, but with Sunday's top two meeting at Anfield this could be a chance for them to make up ground.

After the match against Unai Emery's side at Stamford Bridge, they face back-to-back away games against Southampton and Tottenham, followed by a run of seven games against sides, none of whom are currently in the top eight.

“You have to be realistic,” Maresca warned. 'Right now you can see the difference between us and the rest. That doesn't mean we won't compete and win games. We will do that until the end. The emphasis should be on the feeling that we are improving match after match.'

Chelsea's most recent Premier League appearance, a 2-1 win against Maresca's former club Leicester, saw a recall for Enzo Fernandez, who had been left out of Chelsea's previous three league line-ups.

The Argentina World Cup winner delivered one of his stronger performances in blue, scoring the team's second goal in the second half to effectively wrap up the match.

“Enzo has been doing well since we started,” Maresca said. 'I make different decisions for some matches, but that doesn't mean they're over. If they think they are doing poorly on the bench, they are not.

'The game plan requires different types of players and that is why sometimes we choose Moises (Caicedo) and Romeo (Lavia). We could go with Romeo and Enzo or Romeo, Enzo and Moises in the future. It depends on the game.”