Glen Johnson explains why Chelsea are more likely title winners than Liverpool

Liverpool sit at the top of the Premier League ahead of this weekend’s clash with Man City, while Chelsea are coming off the back of consecutive defeats in all competitions

Glen Johnson believes Chelsea are the favourites to win the Premier League title, despite losing two on the spin.

The Blues’ unbeaten start to the new campaign ended last week when Manchester City came to Stamford Bridge and won 1-0.

They then lost by the same scoreline to Juventus in the Champions League, marking just the second time Thomas Tuchel has overseen back-to-back defeats since his January appointment.

But Johnson, who represented both Chelsea and Liverpool during his playing days, believes Tuchel’s deeper squad could give them the edge.

Speaking exclusively to the Mirror on behalf of bettingexpert.com, he said: “If I’m brutally honest, I think Chelsea are probably my favourites to win the league, I think they’ve got more chance, purely squad wise, over Liverpool.

“I think the difference is the way that Chelsea have been so dominant in their matches. They lost to City, but anyone can lose to City and they still played well.

“They’re going to be a threat to almost any team out there and they’ve got a big squad, they made some great signings and I just think as a club, it’s going in the right direction.”

Liverpool sit at the top of the Premier League table after six games, with Jurgen Klopp’s side yet to taste defeat in any competition.

However, Johnson believes their more ‘predictable’ style of play, twinned with a lack of goals of midfield, could be their undoing.

“The thing with Liverpool is they only have one way of playing which sometimes can be predictable,” he continued. “They need their front men to be on firing on all cylinders to the point where they can play against anyone.

“But the day they aren’t firing is when they need a midfielder that can cause problems, get forward, become an attacker at the right times and get involved with attacks. I don’t think they’ve got that.

“Whereas Chelsea have got a few different ways of playing, I just think Liverpool can be a bit…one dimensional sounds negative, I don’t mean it that way, because what they do, they do it great and when they’re doing it, they’re unstoppable.

“But I just think they have one way of playing whereas Chelsea can mix it up a bit.”

Liverpool take on City at Anfield this weekend in a game Johnson believes his old side will need to be at their very best to win.

“I think for anyone to beat City, they’ve got to get everything right. I think City will be favourites, but Liverpool are good enough to beat them.

“Their 11 against 11, they’re going to roll their sleeves up and go. If City are on point, they’re hard to beat.”