Darren Bent believes Chelsea can challenge for the Premier League title under “first class” manager Graham Potter.
The former Brighton boss has enjoyed a tremendous start to life at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have won five of their six games since Potter’s arrival and are currently fourth in the Premier League.
It’s been five years since Chelsea last won the title. Antonio Conte was at the helm as his side edged Tottenham to the crown in 2016/17.
Asked if Chelsea can end their wait for another league title, Bent told talkSPORT: “Of course they can, they’re in the mix.
“All that they can do is keep doing what they’re doing now and winning games. If they can do that they’ll keep closing the gap, closing the gap until people go ‘wow, Chelsea are there or thereabouts’. It’s up to them.”
Since replacing Thomas Tuchel, Potter has put a lot of faith into English players. The likes of Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Conor Gallagher have all been handed a lot more game time alongside first team regulars Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell and the injured Reece James.
When asked about Potter’s approach to English talent, Bent added: “He’s getting a tune out of them, they’re playing really well and the best out of the lot, unfortunately, is Reece James and he looks like he’ll be out for some time.
“What Graham Potter is doing there with the Chelsea players and the English contingent is fantastic and it bodes well for England.
“All he can do is get the players playing well, playing to his system and I still think there’s more to come.
“If you watch the game against Villa you have to say that they didn’t look at their best. It was two goalkeeping mistakes but they still got a result.
“The manager will be very happy that they’re getting over the line and they’ve got the three points, but as the weeks progress into the next game, that’s when he’ll start to think ‘where did we go wrong’, because against better opposition you’ll get punished for missing opportunities.
“But Graham Potter, what he’s done since he’s been at Chelsea has been first class.
“You can see that the way that he wants to play is a little bit different to Thomas Tuchel.
“He does remind me a little bit of Tuchel in the early part when he came in with the defensive solidity, but the way that they’re moving forward and the interactions.
“There’s loads of things that they’re doing under Graham Potter that will make Chelsea…
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