LUIZ: RED ALERT AFTER UPS AND DOWNS

DAVID LUIZ admits he and his Chelsea pals are frustrated they were not challenging Liverpool for the festive No.1 spot.

The Blues started like a train in the first three months and kept pace with Jurgen Klopp’s side and Manchester City.

But, even though they beat City this month, defeats to mid-table Wolves and Leicester – on the back of their November loss to Tottenham – saw Chelsea drop off the pace.

Boss Maurizio Sarri accused his side of suffering from “mental confusion” against the Foxes last Saturday and said their reaction to going a goal behind was “strange”.

They did bounce back against Watford on Boxing Day, winning 2-1, but Luiz knows they’d have been much closer to Liverpool if they had been able to stay switched on for 90-plus minutes of every game this season.

“It’s a frustration,” he said. “If we want to be consistent in the results, we have to be consistent in our style of football.

“It’s better to be consistent first and then after that the results and everything can happen.

“It’s true that against Wolves and Leicester, we had the same problem after the goal we conceded, we changed a bit our style. But, at Watford, even after we conceded a goal, we stayed in the same style.

“We tried to play our football and that’s why we won.”

Sarri has already written off his side’s hopes of winning the title, but Luiz hasn’t given up.

He added: “There’s always a chance. But we are a work in progress, it is the first season of Mr Sarri’s new philosophy.”