Premier League News: Has Raheem Sterling overtaken Eden Hazard as the division's top striker?

Eden Hazard explained it in an interview to Play sports, a Belgian broadcaster, this week at the screening of the upcoming Premier League clash between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

Come back a few weeks back and it would have been a top of the table. Alongside Liverpool and City, Chelsea have had 12 games without defeat. While Jurgen Klopp's team managed to keep pace with City – the two still do not have access to the list of defeats – Chelsea had a bad pass in recent weeks.

Sarri-ball works badly. The Blues have almost dropped out of the title race and are now 10 points behind City, which continues to keep pace. They failed to win three of their last four games – with two losses – and the critics began to fall on the head of Italian coach Maurizio Sarri.

Hazard may have started the season in a world class form – providing incredible goals and aids – but this form is undeniably reduced. Chelsea fans on social media have been trying to pinpoint the problem this week and have concluded that if Hazard does not play well, then Chelsea is not playing well. And without playing well, Chelsea has more and more trouble winning games.

in the Play sports For the interview, Hazard was asked about the main differences between Chelsea and the opponents of this weekend, led by Pep Guardiola.

"Chelsea has a lot of hand possession, but we often have to rely on individual actions to score goals," he said. The Wolves match ended with 70% of the ball collected by the Londoners, but nothing to show.

"Cities are all team games. You can see a lot of movement from them that creates spaces.

"They succeed in their game and create more opportunities, score more goals and have more answers.

"The only thing they do not have is Eden Hazard! That's the difference. "

At the beginning of the season, this kind of individual action, as Hazard says, was easy. Now that he is dry, Chelsea suffers.

This says a lot about the respective configurations of Sarri and Guardiola according to which one can survive the form – or even the absence – of creative players and the other not.

Hazard's Belgian team mate Kevin De Bruyne has not played much this season, but City has not failed to beat. Bernardo Silva competed to take over in the middle of the field.

"We had a lot of games, so it's normal that the same players can not always play every game," said the Portuguese. Goal this week. "And we have a strong team so everyone can play, and everyone, if they are there, can help the team win games."

And in advance, while Leroy Sane was not in shape, it does not matter, as Riyad Mahrez stepped in to ease the pressure and get things done.

Every individual has his place and his role in the attack of the city. It's not just a matter of hoping that one of the very talented and expensive players can do their job overnight. Guardiola has a very clear idea of ​​how he wants his team to attack – coordinating and relying on a number of choreographed routines on which the coach works.

For example, if City plays against a team with five at the back, Guardiola will put his left foot striker to the left and his right foot to the right. Against four, he will exchange them.

His players respond and know what is expected of them in the system. And there is no clearer illustration in this regard than Raheem Sterling.

He flourished under Guardiola – alongside Sane, Mahrez, Sergio Aguero or Gabriel Jesus – and, in the absence of De Bruyne, became City striker.

The defeat of Bournemouth last weekend was remarkable. City was struggling to break up with the Cherries, which had caught up with them and played well.

But Sterling went on a slaloming track, dribbling five Bournemouth players and making a deflected shot on the post. He did not score a goal, but that was all City needed to get there. He was quick to score the goal to score 2-1.

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This is the type of intervention that Chelsea fans have become accustomed to with Hazard, but this intervention has been absent in recent weeks. Contract talks continue to hover over Real Madrid, which looms over the background and it is clear that Hazard lost something from the start of the season.

Sterling is playing well and is currently behaving like the most complete striker in the league, but City is not counting on him. Indeed, they beat Watford on Tuesday night and Sterling was not forced to leave the bench.

Instead, it is part of a well-oiled machine, which plays with fluidity, intelligence and coordination.