Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel claims FIVE teams could challenge for the Premier League title

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has claimed five teams will be in the race for the Premier League title next season, despite the considerable gap between champions Manchester City, second-placed Liverpool and the chasing pack.

Tuchel believes Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham could all challenge but neglected to include Arsenal, who finished ahead of United in fifth.

City won their fourth league crown in five seasons on a dramatic final day on Sunday as they pipped Liverpool to top spot after fighting back to beat Aston Villa 3-2.

Thomas Tuchel believes five teams could challenge for the Premier League title next season

Tuchel’s claim comes despite the considerable gap between the top two and the chasing pack

Pep Guardiola’s side beat Liverpool to the title by a point but were 19 ahead of Tuchel’s Chelsea, who ended the season in third.

Tuchel’s inclusion of United in his list of potential contenders may come as a surprise as the Red Devils finished a whopping 35 points behind rivals City after recording their lowest ever Premier League tally. 

The German also predicted a strong showing from Spurs after they qualified for the Champions League under manager Antonio Conte.

‘It will be a super tough race,’ the German said. ‘Manchester United will be in the race, Tottenham will be in the race with Antonio Conte for sure, and we want to stay in the race.

City won their fourth title in five seasons after edging out Liverpool in a fascinating race

Liverpool finished a point behind City in second place after pushing City all the way

‘And Liverpool and Man City will do everything to even make their squads bigger.

‘They set the standard so, so high and it will take the same to be competitive next season. While like everybody else tries to close the gap to us…the two top teams are what they are, a benchmark of consistency.

‘That’s the situation and from there on we do our very best to be competitive because this is what we want to be.’ 

Before the final day of the season on Sunday, when Chelsea signed off their campaign with a 2-1 win over relegated Watford, Tuchel admitted the Blues may struggle to narrow the gap to Liverpool and Manchester City even if they secure a couple of ‘key’ signings once Government sanctions are lifted. 

Chelsea will be under new ownership next season as a group led by Todd Boehly is purchasing the club from Roman Abramovich for £4.25billion. 

‘It is going to be very difficult because even if we keep the team and have maybe the chance to add one or two key players it would already be difficult,’ Tuchel said.

‘Maybe even very difficult. Still we are not sure if we play the same season again.

‘It was an incredible season from (City and Liverpool) and in the end I don’t lie to myself.’