Antonio Conte says he will know whether Chelsea are title contenders after Christmas.

The Blues have hit a purple patch with four straight Premier League wins, scoring 11 goals in the process while conceding none.

The latest, Sunday's 2-0 victory at Southampton, came thanks to strikes from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, the fearsome twosome who fired Chelsea to title glory two seasons ago.

But Conte has also sorted out the defence which let them down so often last term, having kept four clean sheets since reverting to a back three.

Victory meant Chelsea stay on the shoulders of the top three, just a point behind table-toppers Manchester City.

However, Stamford Bridge boss Conte said: "In this moment it's not important to look at the table. If you ask me a prediction of our championship now, it's very difficult to talk about.

Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings <b>Southampton:</b> Alex McCarthy: 6 out of 10 A good save from Alvaro Morata highlighted his impressive shot-stopping skills. Faultless for the three Chelsea goals. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Jan Bednarek: 5 out of 10 Struggled at both centre-back and out of position at right-back. Substituted at half-time, though that had little to do with his performance and more to do with a necessary tactical switch of formation. PA Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Maya Yoshida: 5 out of 10 Anonymous at the heart of the Southampton defence. Olivier Giroud in particular dominated him. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Wesley Hoedt: 6 out of 10 Two excellent sliding challenges in the first half but was fortunate that a third did not concede a penalty. A couple of wild slices when in space in the Chelsea box that he could have perhaps done better with. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Cedric Soares: 5 out of 10 Eden Hazard got plenty of joy against Cedric, but he will tear plenty of right-backs asunder through the rest of the season. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Mario Lemina: 5 out of 10 Similar to his midfield partner. Ineffective, and looked lost in forward areas, stalling a counter-attack in the second half particularly noticeably. Getty Images Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 4 out of 10 Awful mistake to concede possession to Barkley for Eden Hazard’s opener costs him. Too passive early on, like many of his teammates. Getty Images Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Ryan Bertrand: 6 out of 10 Magnificent ball to lay a goal virtually on a plate for Danny Ings during Southampton’s brief better first half spell. Squandered an almost equally good chance at the start of the second half. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Manolo Gabbiadini: 4 out of 10 Cut a dejected figure when substituted. Started too deep out of position on the right, then moved up front where he looked more comfortable, then beckoned back over to the right wing. Some poor choices in the final third. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Nathan Redmond: 6 out of 10 Nearly lit up Southampton’s performance with a marvelous swerving dipper from distance, but otherwise quiet. Kept Cesar Azpilicueta pushed back for most of the afternoon, however. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Danny Ings: 5 out of 10 Hopelessly isolated early on, and then missed a glorious chance from Bertrand’s ball with the score at 0-0. He was better in the second half, but fortunate not to be sent off for an ugly lunge late on. PA Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings <b>Chelsea:</b> Kepa Arrizabalaga: 7 out of 10 Quiet in the first half, Kepa was forced into action a few times in the second, including a spectacular save from Nathan Redmond’s swerving effort. He’ll have busier afternoons, but few better saves. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Cesar Azpilicueta: 6 out of 10 A lot of Southampton’s brighter moments came down his channel, though the Spaniard was not at fault for any of them. His usual solid self. AFP/Getty Images Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Antonio Rudiger: 6 out of 10 Largely untested but won plenty of headers. PA Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings David Luiz: 6 out of 10 See Antonio Rudiger. Clever little block to free Giroud for Barkley’s goal. AFP/Getty Images Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Marcos Alonso: 7 out of 10 A constant menace marauding down the left, always an extra body in space, allowing Hazard to thrive. The defensive problems many foresaw with Alonso at left-back have not emerged yet. Playing very consistently at the moment. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings N’Golo Kante: 6 out of 10 Kante, bizarrely, had noreal influence on the game. Workmanlike, as ever, but not his sort of contest. PA Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Jorginho: 7 out of 10 The great conduit through which this Chelsea team runs, Jorginho was Jorginho. Tidy and with a clear eye for a pass, he is never out of position and seemingly unable to lose the ball. Started to really pull strings in the second half. PA Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Ross Barkley: 8 out of 10 A fine performance. Won the ball back and played a lovely pass for Hazard’s goal and showed why he is back in the England squad with his all-round showing. Passed well, dribbled superbly and ran the game in midfield. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Willian: 6 out of 10 Continues to waste corner-after-corner, and with Pedro fit again you wonder if Maurizio Sarri may consider a change on the right wing. Willian didn’t really threaten despite seeing a fair amount of the ball. REUTERS Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Olivier Giroud: 8 out of 10 Spectacular, if inadvertent, assist for Chelsea’s second. His usual effective self around the field, creating space for Chelsea’s array of attacking threats. AFP/Getty Images Southampton vs Chelsea player ratings Eden Hazard: 9 out of 10 The best player on the pitch with an ability to light up the game at any moment. A goal and an assist. Defences are so scared when he turns and runs at them. Early favourite for Player of the Year. REUTERS

"Now we must continue in this way. To stay close to first place is good, and gives us great confidence.

"I think game by game. I'm seeing a lot of positive things. Many games must pass before you can see whether you can fight for the title.

"Then you can see if you can stay up there in the title race. When you start the second part of the season, our ideas will be clearer."

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Costa killed Saints off in the 55th minute with a superb curler after Hazard, reinvigorated following last season's misery under Jose Mourinho, opened the scoring with an angled drive after just six minutes.

Saints manager Claude Puel, whose side fell to their first home defeat of the season, gave Hazard his senior debut when he was in charge at Lille in 2007.

Puel gave Hazard his professional debut at Lille in 2007 (Getty)

"I spoke with him after the game," he said. "He's come back perhaps after a difficult season at a good level, and when he plays with this level it's difficult, of course.

"He's a very good player, like Costa. They didn't have a lot of chances, but the chances they did have fell to those players."