Chelsea winger Eden Hazard has claimed that Cesc Fabregas's football intelligence has made it easy for the pair to strike up a partnership quickly at Stamford Bridge.

Both have played a key role in helping the Blues go five points clear at the top of the Premier League, and Hazard was full of praise for his Spanish teammate in an interview with the club's official magazine.

Hazard said: "With Cesc, you don't need to work for years together, we just needed one game, one training session and we knew each other.

"It's a pleasure to play with him because he knows everything about football. He's a brain – you can see that because he has 15 assists in the league already, in January.

"He's very good and he has the same vision as me, so I like playing with him."

Chelsea can go eight points clear when they host Manchester City this weekend.