Jamie Carragher has ruled Chelsea out of the Premier League title race.

The Blues crashed at home 3-1 to Southampton on Saturday, leaving them 16th on the table with just eight points from eight matches, 10 behind leaders Manchester City.

Of Chelsea's chances to defend their English top flight crown, former Liverpool defender Carragher feels that Jose Mourinho's struggling side have absolutely no hope, and must now settle for a top-four finish at best.

"It is without a doubt [the end of their title challenge]. The fight on now is top four, as Jose mentioned, that's the target for them now," he told Sky Sports.

"That second half is the worst half I've seen from Chelsea this season. We talk about the mentality of the team, the fragility of it. It goes to 1-1 and the team completely fall away.

"Last season we watched Manchester City and were very critical of them in terms of desire, appetite. This is a lot worse.

"Jose Mourinho has been criticised for speaking publicly about his players, but the way they're playing, he has to.

"We've never seen something like this in the Premier League era, maybe go back to Leeds United 25 years ago, for the champions to perform so poorly.

"The big worry for Jose Mourinho is that he's built success on players running through a brick wall for him. You watch the team now and they're in quicksand.

"They can't run, I've never seen a team look so slow, laboured. It doesn't look like they are [playing for him], and that has to be the biggest worry for Mourinho and Chelsea."