Joe Cole admits he is ‘SO surprised’ Man City have opened up a 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League… while Joleon Lescott claims Liverpool must still be considered title contenders
- Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon
- The hosts went into the game with a 10-point lead over second-placed Blues
- Joe Cole says he never expected City to dominate at the start of the season
- Joleon Lescott thinks Liverpool are the only ones who can challenge City
Former Chelsea star Joe Cole can’t believe Manchester City have already managed to establish such a significant lead in the Premier League at this stage of the season.
Pep Guardiola’s men have extended their lead at the top of the table to a massive 13 points after their 1-0 win over the Blues, and their former midfielder Cole has been blown away by their domination of the league.
‘I’m so surprised that this Man City team have pulled away this early,’ Cole said during the pre-match coverage on BT Sport.
Joe Cole admitted he is very surprised that Man City have opened up 13-point lead
‘I didn’t have them down as the better squad than Chelsea and Liverpool. But for Kovacic, he alluded to the fact that it’s a cup final and that’s gonna be the case for every game.
‘They have to go and win every single game. They might not be able to have a slip up. Again, Manchester City are putting the gears down and they look incredible.’
And winning every single game is something on Liverpool are capable of, according to former City full-back Joleon Lescott – who still believes the Reds are in a position to challenge them.
‘Mathematically it will be possible (for City not to win the title), but we’ll be asking City to go on a losing streak that they haven’t done in three or four seasons,’ he said.
‘So yeah, it’s a long way back if City win this game for both teams. But if Chelsea do win, I think the biggest winners out of this will be Liverpool, because again, you’ll need to go on a winning streak that I haven’t seen Chelsea do recently.
Joleon Lescott thinks Liverpool are the only ones who have a chance of catching City
‘You’ll have to try and win every game between now and the end of the season and only Liverpool are capable of that.
However, Rio Ferdinand sees no way in which City don’t retain their title.
‘In my mind no (City won’t be caught). I think the history tells you that the way this team play, they’re consistent. They don’t go on big losing streaks, they’ve got a manager that knows his way around winning titles, and last season again they just put their foot down and they go.
‘They went on a huge winning streak last season and they’ve replicated that again this season, 11 games on the bounce. Psychologically as much as anything, I just don’t see them falling and I see other teams fearing coming here.
Romelu Lukaku runs away from John Stones during Saturday’s Premier League game