Cech tips three-horse race for Premier League

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech believes the race for the Premier League title will be contested by the Blues, Manchester United and Manchester City.

The trio of clubs have already put clear daylight between themselves and other potential contenders such as Arsenal and Tottenham.

Everton remain only four points behind Roberto Di Matteo’s team but Cech believes it is clear that a gap is emerging and looked forward to Chelsea’s upcoming clash with defending champions City.

“It looks like that,” he told the club’s official website. “We had a very good start.

“Manchester United started with a defeat but are now top and City had a very good victory because losing 1-0 you think Tottenham might get something out of the game but they managed to win and now have the advantage over us.

“It’s early days and we still have to play them (City) in two weeks, which will be a big game for both teams.

“I think we have what it takes to win trophies and challenge the best teams in Europe and the Premier League but you have to win your games. We are still getting experience and I believe we will improve every game.

“We’ve hit a difficult two or three games where we didn’t win and this isn’t what we wanted but you can see we are progressing as a team.”

Cech bemoaned Chelsea’s failure to put Liverpool to bed before Luis Suarez grabbed a second-half equaliser to ensure that the spoils were shared at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

“It was exactly the game which shows how difficult the Premier League is when you don’t kill a game off,” Cech reflected.

“We had complete control for 70 minutes and had so many chances you would think it is just a matter of time until we score a second or third, but unfortunately we didn’t and allowed them to be alive, and then they came back into the game.

“The goal helped them and it opened the game, and in the end they could have won but we should have won the game.”

The Czech Republic international made an important late intervention to stop Suarez from adding a second goal, racing off his line to intercept a through-ball which the Uruguayan attempted to knock past him.

“It was a matter of timing, if I was late I would have been sent off or he would have scored, but my decision was clear and I was sure I could get there. I had a good starting position,” Cech said.

“As a goalkeeper every second counts, my concentration is for 90, or 95 minutes, and it pays off. I’m glad I managed to make the intervention at the right moment.”