Maurizio Sarri admits Chelsea Premier League title challenge is 'impossible'

Maurizio Sarri believes it is "impossible" for Chelsea to fight for the Premier League title this season after accusing his players of showing "mental confusion" during their 1-0 defeat to Leicester City on Saturday.

Jamie Vardy's 51st-minute goal at Stamford Bridge was enough to secure a morale-boosting victory for under-fire Leicester manager Claude Puel, who came into the game against Chelsea with reports claiming his job could be on the line should the Foxes continue losing.

For Chelsea, the defeat - their third of the season - leaves them trailing Premier League leaders Liverpool by 11 points but, crucially, only sitting above fifth-placed Arsenal on goal difference.

Sarri has previously complained about his players' lack of concentration and motivation for the full 90 minutes of games and, after seeing his side lose to Leicester, he expressed concern over Chelsea's "strange" reaction to going a goal behind on Saturday.

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"I think we played very well for 55 minutes, we played very good football," Sarri told reporters after the 1-0 loss.

"After the goal the reaction was, for me, a strange reaction, not in the right direction, not as a team but as 11 different players and so it was very strange.

"I think we could have done better in the reaction. We only had to continue to play as in the first part of the match, there was time to score without a reaction as a team shocked, as a team in mental confusion."

When then asked why his team had failed to react adequately to Vardy's goal, Sarri replied: "I don’t know.

"If I knew I would have solved the problem before this match. It’s difficult to understand because we have players with lots of experience."

Chelsea next face a tough Boxing Day trip away to Watford - who beat West Ham 2-0 on Saturday - which Sarri is relishing as it hands his players a chance to show a reaction to their defeat to Leicester.

"It’s important to play again in four days, maybe positive, maybe negative, it depends on our reaction after the match," the Italian added.

"In the match we had a bad reaction, now it depends on the reaction in the next three days, I think it’s important to play immediately."