Maresca comes up against Mikel Arteta for the second time this season, with the return fixture at Stamford Bridge in November ending in a tight 1-1 draw. At points after that, we have sat above the Gunners in the table, but their improved form in 2025 has left them in second place for a sustained period.

In the long term, Maresca wants and expects Chelsea to be competing for titles. That means challenging the likes of Arsenal. He acknowledges there is work to do, though.

‘The gap right now is quite big, and the reason why is because they are working with the same manager for five years, so the difference is quite important,’ Maresca explained.

‘With the same players, they have already played in some important games, but our target and duty is to close that gap between us and them. In this moment, the table shows the difference is six points, so we are quite close and have ten games to go.

‘We’re not focused on whether they can be three, six or nine [points ahead]. We are focused on our game and how we try to beat them. Hopefully, we can beat them and we will be closer.’

We sit only a couple of points behind Nottingham Forest in third, and Maresca is not ruling out a push for second spot in the final couple of months of his first campaign as Chelsea head coach.

‘It could be a target for sure,’ he said of second place.

‘It’s our duty to do our best, but at the same time the target is Sunday’s game, and then game after game to see if we can go close.’