'I didn't see' - Enzo Maresca makes new Premier League title claim as Chelsea fall further behind Liverpool

Enzo Maresca has insisted that Chelsea are not feeling the pressure of being in the Premier League title race after dropping points in successive matches.

The Stamford Bridge side were held to a 0-0 draw against Everton before Christmas. Then on Boxing Day, they suffered a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Fulham. Liverpool ensured they cashed in, beating Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City. The Reds are now seven points clear at the summit of the table - and have played one game fewer than second-placed Chelsea.

Maresca has been adamant that the London outfit are too inexperienced to challenge for the top-flight crown. And although his troops lost to Fulham, who bagged two late goals, he does not believe that is the evidence of what he’s been saying. The Chelsea head coach said: "When we win a game, I always said not because we won tonight that we are ready for the title, and not because we lose tonight. It's more the feeling that we have inside, the reality is that there are many things that we can do better.

"One of the things that we could do better is the game management. But also I think we did many good things. I didn't feel or I didn't see the players with pressure. If we try to focus, when we play Everton away or tonight, we don't prepare the game thinking if we beat Everton or we beat Fulham, it's just the way we try to beat them and focus on that."

However, Maresca is hoping that Chelsea’s loss to Fulham can be a valuable learning curve. "It's a bad feeling," Maresca said. "I said many times when you cannot win it's important that you don't lose. I think the first 15-20 minutes of the second half has been the part that I didn't like because we conceded so many transitions, too many transitions.

"First half I think we controlled that very good. We scored, we created chances and then second half I think we give them too much energy in the first 15-20 minutes. It's a game that for me before you attack you need to give passes, passes, passes because that keeps us together and in the moment that we lose the ball we can be aggressive. But if we want to attack with one or two passes then we are stretched, we are open and they can hurt us. It's a lesson that we can learn."