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Chelsea icon John Terry reckons his former club represents the sole threat capable of derailing Arsenal's title charge this campaign.
The Gunners have emerged as overwhelming favourites for the crown, with Mikel Arteta's outfit establishing a commanding six-point cushion following its emphatic 4-1 win over Tottenham in the North London Derby. Weekend setbacks for Manchester City and Liverpool have only strengthened Arsenal's position at the summit.
City suffered a damaging 2-1 defeat at Newcastle, leaving it seven points behind in third spot, whilst reigning champions Liverpool endured a humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest that has left it languishing 11 points off the pace in 12th.
These outcomes have positioned Chelsea as Arsenal's closest pursuers, with Enzo Maresca's squad occupying second place following their 2-0 victory over Burnley on Saturday, reports the Mirror.
The Blues have now secured three consecutive league victories whilst maintaining clean sheets and could narrow the gap to just three points should they prevail when the sides clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Terry remains optimistic about his former team's prospects.
"A big game at the weekend now as Arsenal come to the Bridge where it's going to be a very big game," the former defender declared in a TikTok video.
"I'm not saying it's going to be a title decider but I think it's going to be one of the two teams [who win the league].
"For me, Liverpool are 100 per cent out of the title race. Liverpool look like they're really struggling at the moment."
Arne Slot's side have dropped six of their previous seven league fixtures and find themselves embroiled in a crisis, rendering the title contest increasingly wide open.
Terry's assessment contrasts sharply with that of Jamie Carragher, who declared over the weekend: "The only team that can stop Arsenal winning the league is Arsenal; they are the best team. They are the best squad.
"The only thing that can stop them is their own heads, their own mentality. Maybe this crowd getting nervous in March and April, if the league is still up for grabs by then.
"This would be the one. If they didn't win it, I think we'd all point the finger at them and say, 'You threw this away'. I don't think that's ever been the case before. I always think the case has been that there has been a team slightly better than them in the Premier League, but that is definitely not the case this season."
Chelsea battled valiantly to overcome Burnley on Saturday courtesy of strikes from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez and are gathering considerable momentum. "A good away from the boys, really important to pick up the three points, especially after sustaining a little bit of pressure in the first half from Burnley," Terry remarked regarding their display at Turf Moor.
"I said they would try and hit us on the counterattack and they definitely did that in the first half and we had three unbelievable blocks defensively. I think the only thing for me in the second half, we probably needed to take our chances, especially when we come up against the bigger and better sides."
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