Chelsea ‘in the mix’ for surprise title challenge with Graham Potter praised for ‘top class’ start to life after taking over from Thomas Tuchel

Darren Bent has suggested Chelsea could be a dark horse for the Premier League title after Graham Potter’s impressive departure.

The former Brighton boss has certainly had a fast start to life at Stamford Bridge after winning three out of three in the Premier League.

Those results saw the Blues move up to fourth in the table, four points behind Tottenham and Manchester City with a game less.

Potter is still putting his feet under the table at Stamford Bridge, but according to former Spurs striker Bent, Chelsea could be a surprise candidate to enter the title race this season.

When asked if Chelsea can win the league, Bent told talkSPORT Drive: “Of course they can, they’re in on it.

“All they can do is keep doing what they’re doing now and win games. If they can do that, they’ll keep closing the gap, closing the gap until people say ‘wow, Chelsea are there or thereabouts’. It’s up to them to decide.

Part of Potter’s success so far has seen him use England talents such as Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Conor Gallagher alongside first-team regulars Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell and injured Reece James, but according to Bent, Potter’s success isn’t just down to playing young English talent.

When asked if he thought Potter intentionally played England players, Bent replied: “No, I just think they don’t let him down.

“He listens to them, they play very well and the best of the lot, unfortunately, is Reece James and it looks like he will be out for a while.

“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 to play well, play with his system and I always think there’s more to come.

“If you look at the game against Villa you have to say they weren’t at their best. It was two goalkeeper errors but they still got a result.

“The manager will be very happy that they cross the line and have the three points, but as the weeks progress into the next game, that’s when he will start to think “where did we go wrong” because against better opposition you will be punished for missed opportunities.

“But Graham Potter, what he’s done since he’s been at Chelsea is first class.

“You can see the way he wants to play is a bit different from Thomas Tuchel.

“He reminds me a bit of Tuchel at the beginning when he arrived with the defensive solidity, but the way they advance and the interactions.

“There are a lot of things they are doing under Graham Potter that will make Chelsea fans very happy and I still don’t think they are in top form, but you can see it happening.”