Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has rubbished a claim made by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp that the Blues are contenders for the league this season.

After spending over £200m in the summer and, starting the campaign strongly, Klopp had said that Chelsea possessed a squad capable of competing for the title but Lampard was critical of those remarks following his side’s 1-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park last night:

“That’s life, it’s a long season. If it makes some people who are talking about us winning the league we’ve got the best squad in the league, it’s ridiculous stuff.”

“When you talk about best squads you have to look at the teams who have won it in the last two or three years their squads are full of strikers and wingers who scored 30 or 40 goals a season. Midfield players who have won league titles all over the place; experienced people who have won it and Champions Leagues. We have some, we have some but we also have young players and as a squad we aren’t there. ”

Despite what Lampard says, Chelsea do have a lot of options in their squad, especially in attack, which will make them a threat as the season goes on, with teams likely to be stretched thinner and thinner due to the packed fixture schedule.

Liverpool could, though, put some distance between themselves and the Blues with a victory against Fulham this evening. The Reds can extend their lead in the table over Lampard’s side to five points if they bag a win at Craven Cottage.