Frank Lampard insists Chelsea are well placed in the title battle.

Chelsea sit fourth in the table, already nine points adrift of leaders City after just 11 games.

But Lampard has seen it all before and is confident Chelsea will respond.

He said: "Last year we were 15 points behind and we got back to where we could have won it at the end.

"You never write it off, but you have to see how well the other teams are playing, particularly City, and we don't want to give ourselves that much of a mountain to climb at this stage.

"It's enough of a gap as it is, and the competition at the top is so fierce you cannot afford to lose too many points. But I think experience tells us there's a long way to go."