Maurizio Sarri warns Chelsea stars after perfect Premier League start

Maurizio Sarri has warned his Chelsea players that the international break will pose a huge threat to their top four hopes this season.

Sarri has won all four League games so far, but is worried about the impact a two week gap in the fixture list for international games will do to the squad.

The Italian experienced a significant downturn in results every time players left to be with their national teams during his first season in charge of Napoli (2015-16).

And as Chelsea prepare to face Cardiff City tomorrow, Sarri has told his squad to guard against complacency.

He said: “Am I very relaxed? Not really, because tomorrow is a very difficult game, a very difficult match.

“I remember in my first season in Naples, the average points per match during the season was 2.28, I think.

"But the average (at Napoli) after the international break was only 1.31 or 1.32. So I know that the matches after the break are very, very difficult.

“Fortunately in the last season (when Napoli almost won Serie A in 2017-18), the average was the same: 2.4 in the season, 2.45 after the break.

“This was only because after the first season the players understood the difficulty of this kind of match.

“I've been trying to stress this number to my players (to avoid a drop-off in performance) and telling them my experience in this situation.”

The 59-year-old has revealed he has been working overtime over the past few weeks to get ready for an intense period of fixtures.

With the club starting their campaigns in the Europa League and EFL Cup this month, the Blues face seven fixtures in just over three weeks.

He added: “We have to play seven matches in 23 days, so I had to work. I have seen a lot of matches, of Cardiff and PAOK, West Ham and Liverpool, so I had to work.

“I have been doing it sometimes here, sometimes at my home. Usually the days were long. They would last 12 or 13 hours but for me it's a pleasure. I am not able to think about this as a job, like work.”