Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - December 8, 2024 Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/ File Photo
(Reuters) - Chelsea's defence is key to the club's surprise push for the Premier League title despite conceding three goals in one game at Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, manager Enzo Maresca said on Wednesday.
Chelsea's attacking prowess rescued them on Sunday as they fought back from a 2-0 deficit to win 4-3 at Spurs, but Maresca said the credit for the team's winning form in the league goes to the defence as well.
"You're not going to win games or titles by just scoring goals, you need to defend," Maresca told reporters ahead of Thursday's Europa Conference League match at Astana.
"Even after conceding three goals against Spurs, there are just two clubs that have conceded less than us so that means also defensively we are doing quite well."
Chelsea, second in the Premier League standings with 31 points, have conceded 18 goals in 15 matches, with only leaders Liverpool (11) and third-placed Arsenal (15) allowing fewer.
Maresca's men are also in dominant form in the Conference League, sitting top of the table with four wins in a row. But the Italian did not want to see Chelsea as the favourites.
"It's not about ambition. I am quite ambitious and the players and the club are ambitious but in my opinion if you think about things in four or five months then you can lose a bit of focus on the now," he said.
Maresca said highly-rated 18-year-old defender Josh Acheampong would probably get his first start for the team with the manager planning to leave some players out of the eight-hour flight to Kazakhstan to face 23rd-placed Astana.
"We have many young players with us and the rest are going to be here working," Maresca said.
"Eight hours is not a normal time (to travel) for a game. We have to go there. We have to play and we are going to try and do our best while also thinking about the next game."
Chelsea continue their Premier League campaign against Brentford on Sunday.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
