John Obi-Mikel claims Chelsea will not win the Premier League with current set of players in key area

Former Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel believes Chelsea cannot win the Premier League title with the current defenders. He claims that the options in the squad for Enzo Maresca are not good enough to take the side over the line.

Speaking on his The Obi One Podcast, Mikel pointed out how well Arsenal are doing with the defenders. He echoed legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's 'defenders win you titles' quote and said:

“The way we conceded the last goal was just absolutely awful defending. Awful defending. And you know, I mentioned it so many times, we can’t win. We just don’t have good enough defenders. We don’t have good enough defenders. The defenders that we have right now, the centre-backs that we have right now, we can’t win the Premier League with those centre-backs. We can’t win the Premier League."

“And you can see it with Arsenal, isn’t it? Defenders, win you the title. Yes, the strikers win games, but defenders do win you the title. Defenders win you the league. And now Arsenal have conceded just three goals in the Premier League in nine games. Absolutely brilliant. We’ve said it so many times. If anybody can win this Premier League this season, it’s got to be Arsenal. They have the best team.”

Chelsea have conceded 11 goals in their opening nine matches this season and are sitting ninth in the table. Arsenal are at the top, having collected 22 points and conceded just three times in the league.

Enzo Maresca wanted Chelsea to sign a defender in the summer

Chelsea are without key defender Levi Colwill for the majority of the season after the Englishman suffered an ACL injury in pre-season training. Enzo Maresca asked the club to sign a defender as a replacement, but they opted against it.

Maresca said (via BBC):

"The club know exactly what I think. I think we need a central defender. We are looking for an internal solution but as I said, the club know exactly what I think."

Maresca has already used seven different center-back pairings this season, with teenager Josh Acheampong being their best defender so far. He is also dealing with injuries to Benoit Badiashile and Tosin Adarabioyo, while Wesley Fofana suffered a concussion last month.

Apart from the teenager, Trevoh Chalobah has been the only available defender this season. The Blues loaned out Aarón Anselmino to Borussia Dortmund while Mamadou Sarr moved back to RC Strasbourg on loan for the season.