Eden Hazard played down the idea that he is becoming a different player under Maurizio Sarri and said he is still not motivated by scoring goals after his spectacular strike edged Chelsea past Liverpool in the Carabao Cup third round.
Second-half goals from Daniel Sturridge and Emerson Palmieri left a lively cup tie at Anfield in the balance until the 85th minute, when Hazard jinked through five Liverpool defenders over the course of a dazzling individual move before smashing an unstoppable shot beyond Simon Mignolet.
The strike was his seventh in eight Chelsea appearances so far, prompting assistant Gianfranco Zola to reiterate that Hazard can reach a new level of attacking efficiency under Sarri, who earlier this month set the Belgian a target of scoring 40 goals this season.
But speaking after the victory at Anfield, Hazard said that winning remains his only priority. "I am the same player as two years ago, three years ago. At the moment, I am just scoring goals, that is why everyone is talking for me to be in the top three [players in the world].
"It is a pleasure to be there. I just want to keep going. [But] my only target is to win something every year. I want to win trophies. We won the last FA Cup last year so we knew the Premier League is going to be hard.
"[Manchester] City, Liverpool, they have a lot of good players and good teams so we will give everything. It is not important how many goals I score. You know me, I don't care about that. I just want to enjoy my football and win games."
Chelsea's start to the season has surprised even Sarri, who last month predicted they would encounter "problems" in the first half of the campaign. The Blues have taken 16 points from their first six Premier League matches to surge up to third, and some are beginning to talk about them as surprise title contenders.
The visit of a full-strength Liverpool side to Stamford Bridge on Saturday will be the stiffest test yet of their burgeoning credentials, and Hazard stressed that Chelsea are thinking of no more than maintaining their positive momentum at this early stage of the campaign.
"It is just the beginning of the season," he added. "We know that at the end of the season, City, Liverpool, maybe Chelsea, Tottenham -- they are going to compete for the title. But now it is too early, we just want to win games and that is what we are going to try and do on Saturday."