Cesar Azpilicueta has called on Chelsea to 'raise their level' in order to mount a serious title challenge to runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City.

The Blues dropped ten points behind the reigning champions after coming back from a two-goal deficit to earn a point against fellow challengers Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The Chelsea skipper believes his side need to step up their title chase in the coming months

But captain Azpilicueta admitted Chelsea's grafting point against Liverpool still represented a better result for Pep Guardiola's pacesetters.

Asked if City were the bigger winners in the wake of their closest chasers drawing, Azpilicueta replied: "Of course. They are the top. It's football.

"They've been setting the standards in the Premier League high.

"It was up to us to close the gap at the beginning of the season. We need to raise our level."

Man City are now ten points clear at the top

Mateo Kovacic's fine volley and Christian Pulisic's smart finish hauled Chelsea back after Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah had put the Reds into a commanding position.

Chelsea were without club-record signing Lukaku after boss Thomas Tuchel dropped the £97.5million summer recruit, as the fallout over his controversial interview continues.

Tuchel met Lukaku on Monday to thrash out a way forward after the Belgium hitman told Sky Sport Italy he was unhappy at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea players rallied for a result to boost their manager's strong stance, with Lukaku's team-mates understood to have been as surprised by the striker's interview as Tuchel.

Tuchel's men have it all to do

Azpilicueta believes Chelsea must still be proud of their fightback even despite frustrations with the overall league picture.

"We were 2-0 down, we fought to come back; we wanted more but we never lost the trust," Azpilicueta told Chelsea's official club website.

"We felt the second half we could push for the third goal.

"We had to fight our way back, we left everything on the pitch."