Improving Chelsea, big winning Liverpool downplay title talk

Chelsea need to improve a lot before they could be considered Premier League title contenders, manager Antonio Conte has said after his resurgent side beat Southampton 2-0 on Sunday.

Chelsea have won four successive league games after their 3-0 loss to Arsenal last month and have climbed to fourth in the table after 10 games, a point behind leaders Manchester City.

"It's early for us to speak about title contenders. We can improve a lot. We must improve," Conte told British media.

"After the first part of the season -- during January -- I can tell more about this run.

"We know that the road is long but the confidence is increasing... It's not important for us to look at the table now. If you ask me a prediction or an expectation of our championship, it's very difficult to talk about this."

Chelsea will hope to extend their winning run in the league when they host sixth-placed Everton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson says it is too soon to talk about winning the title and the side must keep their feet on the ground after Saturday's 4-2 win over CrystalPalace kept them hot on the heels of Premier League leaders ManchesterCity.

Liverpool, who won the last of their 18 English league titles in 1990, are unbeaten in eight league games and trail City and second-placed Arsenal only on goal difference after 10 games.

While their impressive start has raised optimism among their fans, Henderson played down the title talk.

"We've just got to concentrate on our games," the England international told BT Sport.

"We're not getting ahead of ourselves. We're focusing on the game ahead and want to keep it game to game."

Goals from Emre Can, Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino secured victory for Liverpool at SelhurstPark in a vibrant attacking display.

However, concerns remain over their defence after James McArthur headed home twice to keep Palace in the game.

"It's a difficult place to come," said the Liverpool skipper.

"It was a battle throughout game but, in the second half, we managed the game well. Then we managed to finish the game off and, overall, we are delighted.

"We need to look back at the game and at the mistakes, but we forget about that and moved on."

Liverpool next host seventh-placed Watford in the Premier League on Sunday.