London: Chelsea will require 18 more points to win the Premier League title, manager Antonio Conte told his players after their 2-1 victory over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s lead was cut to seven points after they lost 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace at the weekend, but they preserved their advantage over Tottenham Hotspur by seeing off City.

Spurs will end the season on 89 points if they win their last eight games and Conte says his side must win six of their remaining fixtures — which would take them to 90 points — to be sure of the title.

“I like to say only the winners write history,” he said.

“I have intelligent players. When there is the possibility to send some message, I think these players don’t need this message.

“They know very well the situation. The only message I send them is that we must think Tottenham could win eight games.

“For this reason, we must be focused and try to win six games. If we can do this, we will win the title. Otherwise it will be a good season, but not a great season.”

With Tottenham having come from behind to win 3-1 at Swansea City, Chelsea’s lead would have been cut to four points if they had lost to Manchester City.

Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard, the double goalscoring hero against Spurs, believes the club are inching ever closer towards the Premier League title but remains wary of getting too carried away as there are still plenty of points up for grabs.

“We are nearly there but there is a long way to go,” Hazard told BT Sport. “We have some difficult games but we are ready for everything. We have eight games to play. We want to finish top. That’s the target.”

Following an entertaining first-half at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea opted to sit back on a one-goal lead in the second half and Hazard said the result was more important than the display.

“I don’t know if the way we played was beautiful but the most important thing is to win games,” the Belgian added.

“I think the way we played we can do better but after a defeat it’s good to come back here and win three points.”