Alex Ferguson paid a glowing tribute to Premiership champions Chelsea after Manchester United's title hopes were hit by a 0-0 draw at Arsenal last night.

Chelsea, the runaway league leaders, beat Arsenal 2-0 at Highbury last month and are now 13 points ahead of second-placed United after they were held in north London.

Ferguson said: "Chelsea have been fantastically consistent and there is no-one anywhere that can match them at this point.

"I don't think the quality of the game has been raised in any way (by Chelsea), but they have retained that great consistency and are happy to grind out 1-0 wins."

Arsenal's title hopes had already been consigned to next season. They are 24 points behind Chelsea and face a real battle to deny United the second automatic Champions League slot - trailing by 11 points.

Like Ferguson, Wenger has no doubts about the strength of Mourinho's side, who have won their last nine league games.

"Chelsea's a mature team, their players are between 25 and 30. It's a team with power and is in full belief," he said.

"I feel we are coming back to a good level and that the team needs belief. Psychologically, without speaking about the title, for the team it's a positive result."

Asked when his men might be a match for Chelsea, Wenger said: "At the moment not . . .let's first assess this season in May and then we'll see."