Chelsea legend, Gianfranco Zola, has tipped his old club to go on and win the Premier League this season despite their setbacks.
He believes the West London side can still catch up with Premier League leaders, Arsenal.
Zola pointed out that the Blues have shown how serious they are to contend for the title with a spirited 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
Maresca’s side finished fourth last season and followed that up with the Conference League and Club World Cup titles.
Chelsea were impressive against Arsenal, took the lead against the title favourites despite being one man down and shared the spoils after 90 minutes.
But they have suffered major setbacks in their title challenge, losing 3-1 to Leeds United and drawing goalless against Bournemouth.
They have now slipped to fifth in the Premier League, eight points adrift of the Gunners.
But while a number of pundits have ruled them out of the title race, Zola, a Stamford Bridge legend, won’t give up.
The Italian told The Times, “Winning a Premier League is always difficult, but why not?
“That Arsenal game was a great sign of their[Chelsea] maturity. Playing for so long 10 against 11, and playing in a way that meant they didn’t suffer much at all against probably the best team in Europe right now, is a sign of great strength.
“The same can be said for the manner in which they limited Barcelona even before their red card.
“I’ve been really impressed with Maresca, and not just because he’s already won titles.”
Zola added that he really likes Chelsea’s sense of identity.
