Eden Hazard says he feels “200 per cent” fit, despite being rested in midweek by Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri.
Hazard sat out the Blues’ Europa League trip to Greece on Thursday, with Sarri admitting the playmaker he told him he was tired.
The Belgium international returned to the starting line-up at West Ham on Super Sunday but, although he and his team-mates failed to break the hosts’ resistance in a goalless draw, Hazard declared himself full of confidence.
Asked if he felt 100 per cent fit after a World Cup summer and a busy start to the new season, Hazard told Sky Sports’ Laura Woods: “I feel 200 per cent!”
“(Sunday) was hard; I missed a couple of passes, dribbles but I feel good. Confidence is up so I hope we can keep up our momentum to win games.”
While Ross Barkley and Alvaro Morata missed chances for the Blues, Andriy Yarmolenko spurned a fine headed opportunity late on and Hazard admits Chelsea might easily have ended up on the losing side.
“We knew it was a difficult place to come and win,” he said. “You can try and play behind the lines – and with the quality we have we should do better – but it’s hard when they have men behind the ball.
“We could have won because we missed a lot of chances but we also could have lost because they missed a lot of chances.
“We’re not happy with the draw because we just want to win games but when you see the chances they’ve had, I think we can be happy. A draw is a fair result.”
Chelsea’s winning start might have come to an end but with still-perfect Liverpool up next, Hazard praised Sarri’s approach for bringing out the best in his team-mates.
“I think this kind of manager is good when you like football,” Hazard said.
“We try to keep the ball, we try to find solutions. We have good players and we’ve brought in new players like Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic – players where you need movement. We are all happy on the pitch.
“We just need to keep playing like we are. We are full of confidence at the moment. Liverpool is the kind of game where you want to shine and we will, I hope.”