Slaven Bilic: 'Chelsea still have work to do in title race'

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has warned Chelsea that his side will look to derail their Premier League title hopes when they face off next Monday.

The Blues have opened up a commanding lead at the top of the division, sitting 10 points clear of closest challengers Tottenham Hotspur and a further point ahead of Manchester City who have a game in hand to play.

Bilic is full of praise for Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, who is on course for more domestic success following three-successive titles in Serie A with Juventus, but he believes that there could be more twists and turns to come between now and the season's end.

"I'm surprised how good they have been," he told reporters. "I was expecting him to have a strong impact because he had it at Juventus. I watched Juve quite a lot and I was studying his game. I didn't know because no-one knows.

"I expected him to do great long term and it is a surprise they are 10 points clear. Conte is a great manager, he done it at Juve, he done it with Italy. A brilliant manager, of course.

"[The title race] is still very open. Many, many points. If they slip up, which you can in every game, other teams need to be ready."

Chelsea have lost just two of their previous 21 Premier League games against West Ham United, winning 15 and drawing four.