Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has put out a warning to Liverpool and Spurs in the Premier League title race, stating Chelsea are the best team they have faced this year.
Frank Lampard's side sit third in the table, trailing Jose Mourinho's Spurs and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool teams by two points after 11 game.
Marcelo Bielsa's side began the season with a 4-3 defeat away at Anfield, and picked up a draw against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City at the start of October.
There was also a draw at home to Arsenal and a heavy defeat against Leicester City. But Bamford says that the loss last time out against Chelsea was the toughest game so far.
"We nit-pick everything really. Our physical stats weren't bad but Chelsea really outperformed what they've done the rest of the season, in terms of physically," Bamford told The Athletic's Ornstein & Chapman Podcast.
"Then obviously we know about Chelsea how good they are. I think that's probably the best team we've played this year."
Bielsa also said that his side found it difficult to play their usual style against Lampard's team, pinpointing N'Golo Kante as a key man in midfield.
"We failed to neutralise them from set-pieces and at the end it was important," Bielsa told reporters.
"It was difficult for us to stop them playing out from the back with their centre-backs and N’Golo Kante.
"The difficulty for us was we didn’t manage to take the ball off them in their own half."
The Blues qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League as group winners following their draw against Krasnodar on Tuesday evening, and face a trip to Everton where Lampard will meet his former manager Carlo Ancelotti on Saturday, hoping for a win that would take his side top of the table.
