EPL: Chelsea now in the race for top three – Tuchel admits

The Blues manager and Germany international Thomas Tuchel has admitted that his side are no longer a title contender in the EPL for this season.

Tuchel acknowledged that the Blues are now in the race to finish in the top three.

This comes after Chelsea loss in a 1-0 scoreline to Man City on Saturday, setting the differences between them at 13 points.

The Germany international revealed he never imagined being 13 points behind league toppers Manchester City in the title race.

Tuchel stressed that he is not happy with the situation but claims he is comforted that Chelsea still have the chance to win the Carabao Cup, the Champions League and FA Cup.

The Blues will also be playing in the Club World Cup next month.

When asked whether when he took the job, he would have thought being 13 points behind was good enough, Tuchel said: “No, of course not. We would never have accepted that before. Never. But this is the reality now and just because it is like this, not everything is bad.

“If you think that to tell the story that way, it is fair enough and we can take it. We know what we do and we know what we are up for. At the moment we are 13 points behind and we are in a race of top three.

“So this is the situation and from there we go. But we would not have accepted it one year ago. I would not have accepted it four weeks ago and I did not accept it when we arrived at City in the moment that we are.

“That is what makes us and I am absolutely comfortable to not accept it because I work for Chelsea and we play for Chelsea, so when we play, we play to win.”