Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (Picture: Getty)

Thibaut Courtois expects Man United, Liverpool and Man City to mount serious title challenges this season.

Chelsea won the Premier League by seven points last season, having only lost five of their 38 games, and only faced genuine competition from Tottenham Hotspur.

But the top-flight could be more competitive this term with both Manchester clubs appearing in a strong position to compete for the title.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool also made a statement of intent at the weekend, thrashing Arsenal 4-0 to move up to second in the table after three games.

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Asked about Chelsea’s title rivals, Courtois told Sky Sports: ‘I think you can see Manchester United have started very well.

‘Obviously [Man] City have bought well and I think Liverpool showed [against Arsenal] that they’re up for the task as well this season.

Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United have made a fine start to the season (Picture: Getty)

‘The Premier League is always hard and we will try to be there until the last day and hopefully we can retain it.’

Antonio Conte’s side endured a difficult start to the new campaign, losing to Arsenal in the Community Shield before suffering a shock defeat at home to Burnley in their opening game.

But the Blues responded well, beating London rivals Tottenham at Wembley and proving too strong for Ronald Koeman’s Everton on Sunday.

‘The first half against Burnley was not good,’ Courtois said. ‘The second half was good and we showed the aggression that we needed.

Liverpool thrashed Arsenal at the weekend (Picture: Getty)

‘We transferred that to the game against Tottenham. Maybe they had more chances but we won.

‘We needed to improve against Everton, who impressed against City, and we handled it very well.’

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