Chelsea defender Luiz credits team for not conceding goals

Chelsea central defender David Luiz has credited his team-mates as the London football club marked its fourth consecutive victory without conceding a goal in the English Premier League (EPL).

Luiz, who played in the middle of the back three of a 3-4-3 formation, praised his team-mates further up the pitch for the fact that they have registered victories over Hull City, Leicester City, Manchester United and Southampton without conceding a goal.

"It's everybody, it's not just the three at the back that don't concede goals, it's the mentality of the team when you don't have the ball," the Brazilian told chelseafc.com on Monday.

"The first defender is Diego (Coasta) and after that everybody defends. Diego, (Eden) Hazard, Pedro, Willian, Oscar, Michy (Batshuayi) -- it doesn't matter who plays, they are doing great on the defensive side and it's much easier for us defenders," he added.

These four back-to-back wins have lifted Antonio Conte-coached Chelsea to the fourth spot with 22 points -- one point behind the leading pack of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

But Luiz stressed it is early days yet to think of challenging for the title. Currently, with 10 games played, one point separates the top four. The defender doesn't envisage that gap changing any time soon.

"It will be like this until the end. It's just the beginning. We need to keep our feet on the floor and keep working hard with humility, just this," the 29-year-old noted.

"We know the Premier League is not easy. When you start the game nobody knows who will win, but we are trying our best every single match to improve our level," he added.

"The Premier League is never easy and if you sleep here one minute you start to lose, and then you can lose one, two or three matches. You need to be awake all the time.

"We train hard every day. Conte works a lot with us and tries to give a lot of information to us to prepare the plan for the games in the best way. It's important to continue this way."

--IANS

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