Fergie: Chelsea have had easy start

Sir Alex Ferguson has begun the mind games with Chelsea this season by claiming that they have had such an easy start, they should have won every game.

The Blues have romped to the top of the Barclays Premier League after winning all but one match so far this term, with their only setback a defeat at Manchester City, but United boss Ferguson, whose side slipped five points behind the champions after at the weekend following a goalless game at Sunderland, has suggested they should have a 100% record.

Asked if the Red Devils could not afford to drop any more points, Ferguson said: "No, no, no. Every team is going to drop points - that's inevitable. If you look at Chelsea's start to the season, you'd have expected them to have won all those games, so the position they're in doesn't surprise me."

He added: "Meanwhile, we've had tricky trips to Fulham and Everton then played Liverpool at home. Those are difficult matches.

"Liverpool, Arsenal and ourselves have all played top sides early on. Chelsea's sterner tests are still to come."

Ferguson accused his players of not being ruthless enough this season after watching them drop points in draws at Fulham, Everton and Bolton.

Speaking to the club's official magazine, Inside United, Ferguson said: "This present team doesn't kill off sides as well as they should.

"At Goodison, we had three or four chances at 3-1 to really put the game out of sight, but we were wasteful and ultimately paid the price. We threw away two goals in injury-time. That's unthinkable.

"That killer instinct just isn't there at the moment and it's something we need to develop.

"We haven't had a problem scoring goals. We got three against Liverpool, Everton and West Ham, two away at Fulham, three in the Community Shield; that suggests we don't have difficulty finding the net."