Chelsea are title contenders, says Rafa Benitez

Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez is backing his former club Chelsea to be one of the main title contenders this season. 

Benitez spent six months in charge at Stamford Bridge as interim manager during the 2012/13 season and, despite constant pressure from fans, delivered a Europa League title.

The Spaniard’s Newcastle side welcome Chelsea to St James’ Park on Sunday and Benitez is confident that, under new coach Maurizio Sarri, his former side can be serious contenders for the Premier League once again.

And, when asked about who he thinks will be the leading challengers for this year’s domestic crown, Benitez said (via Sky Sports): “Maybe at the moment, there are three teams that you could say that they are a little bit ahead of the others, for me – Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City – because of the level, the performances last year and the money they spent.

“Then Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal, they have to go back to things they were doing well. They have quality in the squad and they can compete, for sure.

 “But if you have to pick three, I will pick these. They have enough quality to do well.”

Benitez was also very complimentary of Sarri’s qualities as a coach – the Italian took up the reigns at Serie A side Napoli when Benitez left the club in 2015.

He added: “We did what we had to do. He did well, played good football and they had a very good group of players.”We were an offensive team in Italy playing well, and he received this group and he carried on working with them and was doing well.”

Sunday’s tie between Newcastle and Chelsea is a 4 pm kick-off, with Newcastle currently sat on one point from two games, while Chelsea have taken maximum points so far.

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