Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has tried to temper expectations that the Blues are in with a chance of winning the Premier League this season.

Earlier this week, Callum Hudson-Odoi made the claim that the London club could well be title contenders if they continue their recent good run of form but Lampard was keen to ensure that his team’s ambitions were kept in check:

“Yeah, he’s a young man! He’s excited! I get it. I like confidence, I like the players feeling like that… As for us as a team, my job is to dampen what he’s said there and say that we know there’s a long way to go. We’re eight games in, we’re in a decent position, recently we’re playing well. But there’s so many things that we have to keep working on and improving before we can really start getting involved in that conversation. That’s up to us.”

Liverpool’s injury problems combined with Manchester City’s less than stellar start to the campaign mean the title race could be a lot more open than it has been in recent years.

Chelsea’s improved defensive record over the last couple of months does suggest that they could keep up the pace at the top, as long as they don’t show any signs of inconsistency as they have done in the past.

However, as Lampard says, we are only eight games into the season and there is a long way to go, with many twists and turns still to come.