Match of the Day pundit Ian Wright believes Chelsea need to be more ruthless with their finishing if they are to challenge for the Premier League title.
The Blues secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday thanks to an own goal from Federico Fernandez and a Tammy Abraham strike at St James' Park.
Chelsea sat top the Premier League for a matter of hours after their win over Newcastle, only for rivals Spurs to displace them after their 2-0 home win over Manchester City.
Frank Lampard's side had 71% possession and 14 shots on goal, but just three of those were on target.
The Blues could be overtaken by Leicester City, Liverpool, or Southampton in the next day or so, but Wright thinks they can be title contenders.
"I’d say (so). If they can be a bit more ruthless with their finishing," Wright said on BBC's Match of the Day.
Chelsea have, arguably, been the most ruthless team in the division this season, as they have scored 22 goals in nine games - the highest total in the League.
Those goals have come from a total of 119 shots, which puts the Blues behind only Manchester City (125) and Liverpool (133).
And in terms of their big chances missed (8), they have not been as wasteful as Aston Villa (13), Leeds United, Liverpool, City and Spurs (11), or Brighton (10).
Next up, Chelsea travel to Rennes in the Champions League on Tuesday before hosting Spurs in a mouth-watering tie at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Wright's fellow Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer was very critical of his old club's performance against Chelsea. Although, much of his criticism was down to the way Chelsea applied pressure to the hosts.
"The manager has to take responsibility as he sent the players out and they were very negative with nowhere near enough ideas going forward but also the players have to take responsibility," he said.
"They have to be brave in possession, they have to work harder in closing people down.
"Lascelles as a captain and a leader has got to stop demanding protection from the midfielders in front of him.
"Allan Saint-Maximin hasn’t broken sweat since he signed a new six-year contract. So it’s a bit of both.
"Why does it have to be negative and go backwards? Stop going forwards and you invite pressure onto yourself.
"There were nowhere near enough options going forward or prepared to pass forward and commit bodies going forward.
"It’s negative, the first thought is to go backwards and you’re never going to score enough goals that way.
"It was a bit better in the second half but it was the same thing again. Too many times this season has been too negative and not going to score goals."
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