Eden Hazard tells Chelsea they must recover quickly if they are to be ready for Liverpool test

Hazard is looking to close the nine-point gap on Manchester City at the top

Matt McGeehan
Friday 24 November 2017 09:36 GMT
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Hazard has scored three in his last two games
Hazard has scored three in his last two games

Eden Hazard has told Chelsea to adapt quickly following their European trip so they can perform at Liverpool on Saturday.

Chelsea beat Qarabag 4-0 in Baku on Wednesday night to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League and they landed at Gatwick at 03:00 GMT on Thursday morning following a near 2,500-mile flight.

Head coach Antonio Conte has complained that this is the second time this season his side have had to play on a Saturday following a Wednesday night game away in the Champions League.

Chelsea won at Atletico Madrid in September, but then lost 1-0 to Manchester City, who lead the Blues by nine points ahead of Saturday's trip to Anfield.

"The time between the two games is very short," Hazard said. "We need to adapt. We didn't adapt well against Man City so we need to do better on Saturday.

"I want to be feeling good. A lot of players didn't play, I played only 60 minutes and N'Golo (Kante) also came off so we can be fresh on Saturday, even if the game is close.

"We are professional, we can deal with this. We will do everything, we will do recovery and we will see on Saturday."

Hazard is finally finding his best goalscoring form

Hazard suffered a broken ankle in June and was unavailable for Chelsea until September.

The Belgium playmaker has six goals in seven games, including two at West Brom last Saturday and a penalty in the win in Azerbaijan.

"I am feeling good, 100 per cent," Hazard added. "After injury sometimes you are feeling not 100 per cent but I am ready to play every game and of course when you are winning games it helps.

"Confidence is high, everything is in our hands to win games. We just want to keep playing like this and win games."

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