Chelsea Having an 'Exceptional Season' Under Maurizio Sarri, Says Pep Guardiola

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has come to the defence of Chelsea counterpart Maurizio Sarri ahead of their meeting on Sunday.

Chelsea sit fourth in the Premier League amid a rocky first season under the Italian, but Guardiola believes they are having a strong campaign.

Per Sky Sports' Zinny Boswell, he said: "The season for them is exceptional—final of the Carabao Cup, Europa League through and in the Premier League they are there, even if people don't believe it. They have a chance to be champions—nine points [behind] but a lot of games to play."

Chelsea are actually 12 points behind City, though they have a game in hand and would cut that gap to nine points with a win on Sunday:

The two sides meet in the Premier League at Etihad Stadium, two weeks before they face off in the Carabao Cup final for the first major silverware of the season.

Chelsea won the league title in Antonio Conte's first campaign in charge, so supporters may have been hoping his compatriot could have a similarly immediate impact in this campaign.

However, Sarri seems to have struggled to implement his philosophy at Stamford Bridge.

Football writer Thierry Nyann and journalist Dan Levene have not been impressed with the team's style:

Chelsea supporters also made their displeasure known in January's 4-0 defeat to Bournemouth, per ESPN FC's Liam Twomey:

Guardiola does not share their feelings, however.

"As a spectator and coach I try to figure out what the manager is trying to do," he said. "I see Chelsea and I can understand what they want to do. And after I see them, they do it. Maybe for other people they don't know exactly what they want to do. But they do it."

Sarri's methods evidently take time to bed in, but the 60-year-old had little pre-season with his players since he was not appointed Chelsea boss until July 14. Their campaign started less than three weeks later on August 5 in the Community Shield.

His only permanent outfield signing in the summer was Jorginho, too, so he's not had much opportunity to bring in players suited to his system, either.

They're not realistically in the title race given the size of the gap between themselves and their rivals, but Chelsea are still in contention for three trophies this season and a top-four finish.

Given time, Sarri showed with former club Napoli that he can produce some of the most attractive attacking football in Europe. If he's to succeed at Chelsea, he needs to be shown the same patience and backed in the transfer market.