Chelsea defender David Luiz is staying grounded despite widening gap at the top



The Blues beat Swansea 3-1 on Saturday to move 11 points clear of Manchester City, their nearest rivals entering this weekend's fixtures.

Luiz told Chelsea TV: "(We) need to go game by game

Premier League everybody knows is difficult.

"So keep the feet on the floor, with humility, working hard

That's the way."

It was as if Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte was speaking.

The Italian has previous experience of slipping up in the home straight while he was a player with Juventus.

And Conte does not want a repeat as he vowed Chelsea would focus only on themselves

The Blues next play at West Ham on March 6.

"(Eleven points) is not the reality," Conte said.

"The other teams have to play the game

For sure we have to look at ourselves, to play game by game and to continue to show we are deserving to stay at the top of the league.

"Next week we have to prepare (for) a really tough game against West Ham."

The Hammers beat Chelsea in the EFL Cup at the London Stadium in October.

Chelsea have one defeat in all competitions since - at Tottenham on January 4 - and have won 14 of their 15 games in all competitions at Stamford Bridge this season.

The current 12-match winning run, since September's loss to Liverpool, equals the club record.

Conte added: "To have 10 wins in a row in the league and 12 in all competitions shows it's very difficult to play at Stamford Bridge for the opponents.

"It's fantastic to have this record

Now it's important to continue this record."

Cesc Fabregas scored on his 300th Premier League appearance but Fernando Llorente equalised on the stroke of half-time against the run of play.

Pedro scored Chelsea's second when his shot deceived Swansea's goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and Diego Costa added a late third for the Blues.

Fabregas said: "I'm happy

It's a proud moment for me, a fantastic three points for us.

"We're getting closer to the end of the season and we want to be at the top for as long as we can.

"We showed great character, great fight and we had the three points.

"Now the most important thing for me is that Chelsea win the Premier League and hopefully we can make this happen."

Chelsea academy graduate Jack Cork captained Swansea, who continued to demonstrate their improvement under new boss Paul Clement.

Clement identified March as a crucial month for the Swans, who face Burnley, Hull, Bournemouth and then Middlesbrough on April 1 in games which could go a long way to deciding their Premier League fate.

Cork said on swanseacity.net: "We have had a great start under the gaffer and we should not lose confidence from a defeat at Chelsea.

"We have got to keep things going

We shouldn't lose any confidence or belief.

"We have done really well against the teams around us in the table and we need to keep that going now because we have got four important games coming up against teams we are competing with."

The visitors felt aggrieved at being denied a second-half penalty when, with the score 1-1, the ball appeared to hit the arm of Cesar Azpilicueta.

Cork added: "It looked like a penalty and, if we had gone 2-1 up, it would have been a completely different match.

"They had a lot of the ball so in a way we can't have many complaints, but we feel like we could have got something."

Source : PA

Source: PA