Sunday 18 December 2016 13:22, UK
Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic has refuted the suggestion they are title favourites despite Saturday's 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace securing an 11th consecutive league win.
Diego Costa's headed goal at Selhurst Park ensured Antonio Conte's side equalled a club-record run set in the 2009-10 season under Carlo Ancelotti and surpassed another under Jose Mourinho in 2005-06.
Chelsea are guaranteed top spot over Christmas and in a strong position going into the New Year with no European football to distract them but Matic is not getting carried away with their progress.
"It is a long way to go," Matic said. "We are now almost halfway through the season and we still have many hard games so we are not favourites, we are just one of the teams that can now win the title.
"I am sure there are more than five teams that will try to catch us for first position.
"We can improve of course. Sometimes when we are 1-0 up we have to find a way to kill the game because 1-0 in the Premier League against a team like Crystal Palace is very dangerous, because they can score at any time.
"They have good attacking players so I am sure that we can improve and that he [Conte] knows what we have to do in the future.
"We are very happy because of our form. How we play is very good and our confidence is high because to win 11 games in a row in the Premier League is not easy.
We still have many hard games so we are not favourites, we are just one of the teams that can now win the title.
"We are very happy especially because the last three games we played in a week we won all nine points and I hope we will continue like this."
Then comes Mersey Monday, when Everton take on rivals Liverpool from 7pm, also on Sky Sports 1 HD.
