Eden Hazard scored a brace for Chelsea against West Brom on Saturday (Picture: REUTERS/Peter Nicholls)

Eden Hazard insists Chelsea are more than capable of repeating the devastating run that helped them clinch the Premier League title last season during the current campaign.

After falling to two consecutive defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal in September 2016, Antonio Conte implemented a change in formation at Stamford Bridge.

The tactical switch led Chelsea to win 13 straight league games and stamp their authority on the title race – they ended the season seven points clear of London rivals Tottenham.

‘The run last season was unbelievable,’ Hazard told Chelsea’s official website. ‘It’s not every year you can do that, but why not?

The Blues thrashed West Brom to move up to third (Picture: REUTERS/Peter Nicholls)

‘We have almost the same players and we have to be ready if we want to stay near the top.’

Hazard was speaking after Chelsea clinched a fourth straight Premier League victory, beating Tony Pulis’ struggling West Brom 4-0 at the Hawthorns.

Alvaro Morata fired the visitors ahead before Hazard doubled Chelsea’s advantage on 23 minutes. Marcos Alonso gave the Blues a three-goal cushion shortly before half-time.

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Hazard, 26, scored his third league goal of the campaign after the break and insisted Chelsea cannot afford to slip up as league leaders Manchester City march on.

‘We have to do the same every week,’ the Belgium international said. ‘Now we have a tough week because we play Qarabag away and then we go to Anfield. We want to stay near the top.

‘We know Man City are winning a lot of games but we need to try and close the gap and then we will see at the end of the season.’

Chelsea club captain Gary Cahill also insisted that while City have looked ‘fantastic’ in recent weeks, much can change before the end of the season.

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‘They’ve started off full steam ahead and that’s great for them, but we’re not even at Christmas yet, so let’s just hold fire and see how they get on,’ the England defender said.

‘They look fantastic at the moment and we have taken a fair bit of criticism at times this season, but we’ve had three clean sheets on the bounce in the league now, it was a great performance and we’ve got a long way still to go.’

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