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Arsenal great Ray Parlour feels Chelsea could lose their third place in the Premier League to the Gunners or Tottenham Hotspur if they take their foot off the gas.
The Blues currently sit third in the Premier League table with 59 points from 29 matches. They enjoy a five-point lead over their London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal, who are placed fourth and fifth in the standings respectively.
Thomas Tuchel's side looked to be on course to comfortably finish third in the league this season. However, their 4-1 defeat to Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Saturday has potentially left the door open for the Gunners or Spurs to leapfrog them in the table.
It is worth noting that Mikel Arteta's side can reduce the gap with the Blues to just two points if they win their game in hand. Tottenham, though, have played one more match than the European champions.
Parlour has now issued a warning to Tuchel's side ahead of their final nine games of the season. The ex-midfielder can envisage his former employers Arsenal or Tottenham moving to third place before the end of the campaign if the Blues are not careful. He said on talkSPORT:
"They've got a massive UEFA Champions League game coming up [against Real Madrid]. It [Brentford loss] is a blip and hopefully Tuchel will look at it like that and say 'That's gone now, let's go and try to win moving forward'. I mean Chelsea have got to be careful. Arsenal have got to go and play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, if they can somehow get a result against Chelsea like Brentford did in the weekend, then suddenly third place might be up for grabs for Spurs or Arsenal."
Tuchel and Co will be looking to bounce back from their shock 4-1 loss to Brentford when they face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals this week. They host Los Blancos at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the tie on Wednesday.
Chelsea and Arsenal face each other this month
The Blues have a few tricky fixtures against the likes of West Ham, Wolves and Manchester United coming up before the end of the season. Among the clubs they are scheduled to face this month is the Gunners.
The two London clubs are scheduled to lock horns at Stamford Bridge on April 20th. Should the Gunners win their game in hand, the trip to Chelsea could determine who will finish third in the Premier League this term.
