Eden Hazard appears to have conceded defeat in the Premier League title race by admitting Manchester City are superior to Chelsea in most departments.

Chelsea were beaten for the first time this season, as Tottenham secured a 3-1 win at Wembley. The result means the Blues are now trailing Pep Guardiola’s table toppers by seven points and Hazard is not confident his side can close the gap.

He said: “We are thinking about finishing in the top four, not to be the champions. We know City are not much better than Chelsea but they are better at the moment.

“In what areas are City better? A lot of things: possession; when they have chances, they score; maybe defensively they are better. They have top players.

“Is it due to their consistency as well, winning game after game? Yes, of course. They are in a good momentum since last year and we need to be back like this.”

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Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has consistently stated Chelsea will not win the League this term but Hazard is the first squad player to suggest it, too.

Chelsea will have an opportunity to get closer to Manchester City if they win their next two League games before facing them at home on December 8.

Hazard admits, however, Chelsea will be on the receiving end of a heavier loss than they suffered against Spurs if they play as badly against Guardiola’s men.

The home side were two goals up within 16 minutes and wasted a number of chances before and after Heung-min Son added a third in the second half.

In contrast, Chelsea carried little threat throughout and substitute Olivier Giroud’s late header made the scoreline flattering to the visitors.

Hazard said: “It could have been a lot worse on Saturday. Everything was bad against Spurs. Against Tottenham it is always going to be hard to start a game 2-0 down.

“We tried to push but it was not enough. It was a bad day, we need to move forward and try to bounce back.

“When you lose one, you don’t want to make it two. We have to win, we have to play better and win again.

“We want to go on another unbeaten run now. We want to take points. The target is to finish in the top four. In the Premier League, anything can happen.

"Next Sunday we can beat Fulham and other teams can lose points. There is no need to panic. We have been playing good football.

"We have shown since the beginning of the season we are a good team. So no panic, just try to forget this game.”

There is no doubt Chelsea’s League form is in decline, having won just three of their last eight League matches.

Sarri has become increasingly critical of the team’s performances and stated ahead of the Tottenham fixture that his players “have a mental problem” starting matches well.

Hazard, though, does not believe a poor start was the reason for coming second best to Spurs.

“I don’t think it is a mental problem,” he said. “We have top players in the team, we have players who can play under pressure.

“When we are losing, you can always find an excuse but Tottenham were just better. I don’t think we have been getting complacent after our unbeaten run. We just need to analyse why we lost and then try to not do it again.”

Hazard handed Chelsea an injury scare when he was seen hobbling in the closing stages following a tackle by Serge Aurier.

The Belgium international said: “I don’t think it is bad, I just twisted my ankle. I will get it checked but I think it is minor and I don’t think I will be out for any period of time.”