John Obi Mikel fears one Chelsea star could prevent them winning the Premier League

John Obi Mikel believes Chelsea must replace Robert Sanchez and his blunders if they are to be regarded serious Premier League championship challengers.

Chelsea won their third league game in a row last Saturday, 4-2 at home against Brighton, but Sanchez’s performance prompted concerns.

The Spanish goalkeeper was at fault for both Brighton goals, failing to grab a high ball that Georginio Rutter headed home before passing the ball to Carlos Baleba, who scored the away team’s second.

Sanchez’s blushes were saved by Cole Palmer’s spectacular four-goal haul, but Obi Mikel, who has twice won the league at Stamford Bridge, feels the 26-year-old is a problem that Enzo Maresca cannot afford if they are to fight for the crown this season.

‘He had a nightmare in the first half; he was at fault for the first two goals, which is a problem for me, but other from that, we are looking very, very strong,’ he stated on The Obi One Podcast.

‘Of course, he did admirably in the previous two games, but if you want to be a title-winning squad, you must have a world-class goalie.

‘Don’t kid yourself; we don’t have that. No offense to Robert Sanchez; he’s an excellent goalie, but we need a top-tier goalkeeper to compete.

Obi Mikel went on: ‘If he wants to be a good goalkeeper, he needs to start putting in those performances.

‘We know he’s not very good with his feet, which isn’t an issue, but we need a goalkeeper who is confident in the goal and can make saves, and I saw the game on Saturday and he was at fault for both goals.

Filip Jorgensen, a Dniash goalkeeper, was signed in the summer and will compete for Chelsea’s first-choice keeper in Thursday’s Conference League match against Gent.

However, Maresca has put his support behind current first-choice Sanchez, stating that his possession-heavy approach is going to produce some teething problems.

‘Filip needs to do well because we need him to, not because he has to put pressure on Robert,’ the Italian stated in a press conference on Wednesday.

‘I stated after the game that we normally prefer to see the conclusion of things, and it was a Robert error, but the mistake began with Malo [Gusto], since we gave up a chance and subsequently a goal.

‘It is neither Robert’s nor Malo’s problem. We’ll make some errors. I don’t think Filip should put pressure on Robert. We need him to play well because the team needs it.