Chelsea
Sarri - Blues not a title challenger
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri admits they are not in the Premier League title race but can win silverware this season.
As Sarri prepares his side to take on champions Manchester City he says his side is not in the same race as the champions - contrary to a suggestion from City counterpart Pep Guardiola earlier this week.
City lead the table on goal difference from Liverpool, with both sides 12 points clear of Chelsea entering this weekend's fixtures.
Sarri said: "I think we will be able to fight for the top four this season. No more, I think.
"We can win something of course, but in the Premier League there is a fight between Liverpool and Man City. At the moment Man City is the best team in Europe.
"I think we were lucky (in December), because we scored in a very difficult moment of the match.
"In that match we defended really very well because they had only three goal opportunities, no more.
"It's not easy against Man City to give them only three, four opportunities.
"At home, I think they've scored 43 goals in 13 matches. More than three on average. We need to defend really very well."
Sarri says he meets Guardiola socially in the off-season, alongside Arrigo Sacchi, the former AC Milan boss.
"We have a good relationship. Very, very good," Sarri said.
"I hope he speaks very well about me as a coach, as a friend.
"Usually we learn from Arrigo Sacchi because Arrigo is always with us. So it's very interesting to speak to Arrigo."
Nick Harris is a long-standing journalist who specialises in football and rugby league. An avid golfer, Nick also follows the major boxing fights closely.
