Chelsea forward Eden Hazard has claimed that his side will be pushed all the way by Manchester City and Liverpool this season in the race for the Premier League title.
As many as six teams could still realistically challenge for the top-flight crown, last won by the Blues in 2014-15, but Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have both fallen off the pace in recent weeks.
That leaves Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City at the summit, separated by just one point with 13 games of the campaign now played, and Hazard is fully aware just how important next week's visit to the Etihad Stadium will be in the long term.
"Man City and Liverpool. They are both good. If we want to be there at the end, then we have to finish above them," he is quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
"We know it's always difficult to win [in Manchester]. They beat Burnley and they have a lot of good players - [Sergio] Aguero and [Kevin] De Bruyne. I hope it will be a good game and if we can win there it will be good.
"We want to keep going like this and we don't want to stop now. We are full of confidence and we want to win every game."
Chelsea have marched to the top of the table after winning seven games on the spin, scoring 19 goals and conceding just one during that two-month spell.
Daniel Lewis
