Chelsea fans rip into Jamie Carragher as he reveals 'hot take' for new season

Jamie Carragher has made a prediction that does not sit well with Chelsea's fans ahead of the new season as the Blues prepare for Champions League action after a spell out of the competition

Chelsea fans have slammed Jamie Carragher over his predictions for Chelsea's Champions League campaign. The former Liverpool defender has suggested the Blues will not make it out of the group stage of Europe's premier competition.

Enzo Maresca's side finished fourth in the Premier League to earn their way back into the tournament after two seasons outside of it. The west London team found European success in the UEFA Conference League and followed that up with a win in the Club World Cup in the United States.

But that was not convincing enough to persuade Carragher that Chelsea would be able to follow that up with an exciting return to the Champions League.

"Hot take on Chelsea from me," Carragher said on The Overlap. "I don’t think Chelsea will qualify out of the Champions League group stage."

That caused some consternation among the panel alongside Carragher. Fellow pundit Jill Scott said: "Oooh, that is a hot take."

Chelsea will be expected to progress through the group stage with eight automatic qualifiers from the group of 36. Teams finishing from ninth to 24th enter a play-off around to reach the last 16.

Last season, Liverpool topped the standings after their eight matches, while Arsenal were third, Aston Villa were eighth and Manchester City were 22nd. Blues fans did not take kindly to being tipped to not follow in the footsteps of those teams.

"This clown is deliberately discrediting @ChelseaFC to gain relevance," one supporter said. "Without Chelsea in everything he says, he’s as dumb as his face looks.".

"Carragher has been crying about Chelsea ever since Zola embarrassed him on national television," said another. A further user added: "At this point Carragher is using Chelsea to boost his numbers"

"That guy is just an attention seeker," said a social media user. "Forget him. His comment about Chelsea, whether good or bad don’t matter to me."

It's not the first time that Carragher has prompted Chelsea ire ahead of the new season.

"When I look at Chelsea, I think about what you did in the Club World Cup – everyone wanted to win it,' he told The Overlap Fan Debate.

"Real Madrid really wanted to win, PSG did, and so did Manchester City, all those that we class as the best teams. So I do think it's a big thing and it will help build a connection between Enzo Maresca and the supporters, which wasn't really there last season.

"I'm not sure it'll push Chelsea any closer to the title though. When Chelsea do business, over the last couple of years, it feels like a lot of players are changing without anyone really lifting the level. I know Cole Palmer has been amazing, but all your wingers feel the same.

"A perfect example is [Jamie] Gittens coming in and Madueke leaving – there is no elevation, and I see that with a lot of positions at Chelsea."