Malouda - Title is wide open

Malouda: Title is open

Florent Malouda has admitted that the race for the Premier League title is wide open with little to separate the teams at the top.

The Chelsea winger has featured in every single league game for the club so far this term, seeing his side slump to fourth in the table after a flying start to the season for the champions.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City all sit ahead of the Blues, with Tottenham not far behind, and City have the chance to go top should they beat Everton on Monday due to all of their contenders' matches being postponed.

The French international concedes that his team have dropped too many points of late, with the club not winning in their last five games, but feels they are still right in the mix.

Race

"It is an open race," he told the club's official website.

"We were on top for the first part of this season and now we have dropped so many points that now we are chasing Man United, Arsenal and Man City so I think it is going to be tight until the end of the season.

"We have the experience of last year when we ended up winning the league with one point ahead and at this period of the year we not so far ahead. I think it is going to be open because there are more teams involved in the race so I think it is going to be interesting to the end."

Some have felt that fatigue has affected many of football's top stars this season following the World Cup in South Africa, but Malouda, who was part of the debacle with the French national team, does not feel this has been a major problem.

"Maybe it is a factor but that is not the main reason," he added.

"I think the other teams in the league improve every year and try to challenge the top teams and try to get into the top four. Some teams get the results of their efforts and that is normal when you have more competition.

"We know that the league is the most difficult in the world and there is more competition this year but that doesn't mean the same team won't be on the top at the end.

"It is more difficult for the players who play the international games but we are used to that and that is the reason why we come to the top clubs, to play for national sides."