That’s the belief of defender Cesar Azpilicueta.
The Blues earned their third successive win to start the Premier League season with a late win at Newcastle on Sunday thanks to DeAndre Yedlin’s own goal.
Chelsea’s hopes of a title challenge had initially been doubted with Sarri having only signed Jorginho, Robert Green, Kepa Arrizabalaga and loanee Mateo Kovacic in the summer.
But while the west London outfit have not been at their best in beating Huddersfield and Arsenal before downing Newcastle, they are still level on points with Liverpool and Tottenham and two ahead of defending champions Manchester City.
And Azpilicueta is confident that when things click, Chelsea are capable of contending for major honours in the league and in cup competitions – although he is aware they must improve their threat in the final third.
“Creating more chances from open play is something we will work on, I’m sure,” vice-captain Azpilicueta told the Chelsea official website after beating Newcastle.
“We want to control the game and have the ball, and we want to be dangerous in front of the goal. As a team we know we can improve and we will work on that.
“I am sure in some games we will have to deal with a defensive opponent, in other games we will have to deal with a different type of game and player.
“But the Premier League is the best league in the world, and we know you have to fight every game to win points.
“Whatever it takes we have to work hard to win games.”
While Chelsea missed out on a top-four finish under Antonio Conte last term and will play Europa League football this season as a result, Azpilicueta insists expectations remain high behind the scenes at Cobham.
“We know how tough it is to even qualify even for the Champions League,” he acknowledged.
“Man City created a big gap with the other teams, and it’s up to us to fight for the title.
“Chelsea have our own pressure. We know we have won two of the last four Premier Leagues, and our standard is really high.
“We are in August, until May there is a big path to work, and we will see how far we can go.
“After the international break we will be playing every three days. It changes completely with Europe, with the cups, and we have to be ready.
“We have a good squad and we have been working really hard with the manager. We have the level to fight for everything.”
Chelsea face Bournemouth in their final game before the two-week break, facing the Cherries at Stamford Bridge on Saturday (3pm) as they look to maintain their perfect start.