Returning Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell has pinpointed the area his side must improve on if they want to break Manchester City and Liverpool's five-year hold on the Premier League title.
Both City and Liverpool have shared the title in the last five seasons, with four trophies heading to City but two of those settled by just a point. Both sides, when operating with a fully fit squad, are by far the best in the Premier League, although for periods last season, Chelsea looked capable of threatening the dominance.
Now, Chilwell has laid down a marker to City and Liverpool, warning them that Chelsea are ready to break their hold on the title race and add the consistency they've lacked to their game.
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"City and Liverpool have set the bar, for maybe the last five years, which every other team in the league is aspiring to get at," said the left-back, who missed most of last season with injury.
"Being a Chelsea player, I'd say we're the closest to them, and we're aspiring to get on the same level as them. We showed in patches last season that we could compete with them, but it's that consistency that they've shown — they're not just one-season wonders. They've done it season-in, season-out for the last five years.
"This is Chelsea, we want to win the big trophies. And of course, we're positive going into this season, like we are every season. We've got a strong team. Hopefully, we can add to that strength with some good players. We've got a great manager. New ownership. A great training ground. Good backroom staff. So everything's in place to have a good season."
Chilwell also pointed to manager Thomas Tuchel as being a strong factor in their bid to break into that top two, and the England man claimed the Chelsea squad know there are no better managers available to them.
"Like you say [Tuchel staying] can only be a good thing. As players we have full confidence in the manager - we know we’re not going to get a better manager here. I’m not just saying it. He’s an unbelievable manager in all aspects and I think he has a lot of trust in us as well.
"Now there is that stability - everything that could have potentially been tricky last season has all been resolved so it’s up to us to work and try to get that consistency on the pitch, which is only going to happen if we put the work in away from match days."
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