Gary Neville explains why he’s WRITING OFF Chelsea for the Premier League title

Gary Neville has claimed Chelsea are not title contenders despite their strong start to the 2024/25 season.

The Blues moved into joint second place in the Premier League after recording a convincing 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer saw Chelsea win and move level with title contenders and local rivals Arsenal.

Enzo Maresca's side are now two points above Man City and just nine behind Liverpool, but despite this Neville insists they are not title contenders.

Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, he said: 'To be honest, it feels too early for Chelsea. Even though they are tied on points [with Arsenal].

'It doesn't feel like Chelsea are going to win. I still feel it will be Arsenal, if anyone, who will get Liverpool at this point.

'But you're right: Chelsea are having a fantastic season. Maresca has a stability there that is hard to find – so well done to them. Cole Palmer's goal was absolutely amazing. But I don't feel like they're there for the title. I don't really feel like it.”

Since the arrival of co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly in May 2022, the west London giants have struggled to find consistency on the football pitch.

In 2022-2023 they finished 12th. The following season, led by Mauricio Pochettino, they finished sixth.

After scoring the third goal in Chelsea's comfortable win, Palmer took to social media to show off his player of the match award.

In addition to the honor, he showed on social media an image of a conversation he had with Rogers before the game.

Palmer revealed that the two England internationals had had some pre-match banter on Snapchat earlier this week.

Rogers started the exchange by claiming Palmer would not add to his impressive goal tally this season when Unai Emery's side traveled to Stamford Bridge.

Palmer responded prophetically that the player's match prize would go home with him, adding a screenshot of the exchange alongside his prize to his Instagram Story after the match.

The pair played together in Manchester City's academy before moving away from the Etihad respectively, with Rogers claiming earlier this year that his former teammate stole his iconic celebration from him.

The Blues are currently five games unbeaten in the league, with their last defeat coming in October when they were defeated 2-1 by Liverpool.

After finding success during his productive first season in west London, 22-year-old Palmer has shown no signs of slowing down.

He is currently joint fourth in the top goalscoring charts, with teammate Jackson joining him with eight goals for the campaign so far.