His worry is that things could get worse for his English Premier League side if they fail to get it right in the transfer market in January.

Defending champions Chelsea picked up a late point at Anfield on Saturday but slipped 11 behind City, who beat Huddersfield Town 2-1 away on Sunday.

“I think Manchester City in this season are a strong team,’’ said Conte. “Also, last season, they were a fantastic team. Then, after the transfer market, they bought their first targets and then they have improved a lot.

“They can do this also in January maybe, in the future. For this reason we must be worried because if we want to compete with Manchester City we have to work and then make the best decisions in the transfer market.”

City, who strengthened with the signings of Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Danilo, have taken 37 points from a possible 39 this season.

However, Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said a busy run of fixtures before the end of the year could see City start to drop points.

“December is a very tough month,’’ he said. “We have to be there to keep on winning and hopefully close down on them. Then, towards the end of the season, maybe overtake them.

“But at the moment they are the best team in the league.”

Chelsea host Swansea City in the league on Wednesday while City welcome Southampton.

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Mustafi opened the scoring with a superb 36th-minute header and Sanchez doubled the advantage five minutes later with a close-range strike.

The result lifted Arsenal to fifth place in the table on 22 points, one behind Spurs.

Arsenal have now won 11 Premier League matches in succession at their home ground after their first league victory over arch-rivals Spurs in seven games.

The hosts started the better and Alexandre Lacazette should have done better than scoop a right-footed shot from the edge of the box high and wide in the fifth minute.

Harry Kane fired straight at Petr Cech a minute later but Arsenal remained the more potent attacking force.

They almost took the lead when Hector Bellerin’s 10th-minute cross only just missed Lacazette’s toe.

Tottenham were operating solely on the counter and went close twice in quick succession.

Christian Eriksen scraped the outside of the post in the 33rd minute, before Kane’s deflected header was saved by Cech.

They were made to pay in the 36th minute, following a disputed foul from Davinson Sanchez on Alexis Sanchez.

Ozil floated the resulting free kick into the box and Mustafi found the top corner with a brilliant guided header.

The hosts were now buoyant and doubled the lead five minutes later with another raid down the right flank.

Lacazette was fed by Bellerin and cut back for Sanchez, who made a mess of his first touch but lofted his second high into the net from a tight angle.

Tottenham were more urgent after the break but were unable to fashion clear-cut opportunities and increasingly became vulnerable to Arsenal counter-attacks as they pushed forward in search of an equaliser.

Sanchez had three chances to put the match beyond Spurs but lashed one of the efforts high and had the other two saved by Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Any hope of a way back into the match for Tottenham seemed to disappear when manager Mauricio Pochettino took off Kane and Dele Alli.

Both of them were returning from injuries which had ruled them out of international duty.

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Salah broke former striker Robbie Fowler’s club record and became the first Liverpool player to score nine goals in his opening 12 league games.

He eclipsed Fowler’s tally of eight after a superb shot from 20 metres followed by a cool close-range finish in the first half.

Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho made it 3-0 midway through the second half when he swept home a rebound after goalkeeper Fraser Foster parried a fierce Roberto Firmino shot into his path.

The result left Liverpool fifth on 22 points from 12 games after they maintained their unbeaten run at Anfield in all competitions this season.

Southampton are 14th with 13 points, four above the relegation zone.

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The result made it four straight league defeats for the Baggies, in spite of starting well and having an early goal ruled out for offside.

But once Alvaro Morata drilled home the rebound from an Eden Hazard shot to give the Blues the lead in the 17th minute, they never looked back.

Morata turned provider six minutes later, his slick backheel putting Eden Hazard on to round Foster and make it 2-0.

An unmarked Marcos Alonso deftly volleyed home a Cesc Fabregas free kick to make it 3-0 before halftime.

Hazard drifted in from the left to hammer home his second in the 62nd minute to cap a dominant Chelsea performance.

The result heaped the pressure on West Brom manager Tony Pulis, who has not seen his side win since a 1-0 victory at Burnley in August.

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Former Southampton boss Puel replaced Craig Shakespeare who was sacked last week with Leicester, the 2016 English champions, third-bottom of the table.

“It’s a great privilege to become the new manager of Leicester City – a club whose values and ambitions are closely aligned to my own,” the 56-year-old Puel said on Leicester’s website.

“The opportunity to help the club build on its remarkable recent achievements is a truly exciting one and I’m looking forward to working with the owners, players, staff and supporters to deliver further lasting success.”

Leicester, who followed their title-winning campaign with a 12th-place finish last season, said assistant manager Michael Appleton would remain in his role.

He had stood in for two games since Shakespeare’s sacking and won both.

Vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha described Puel as “a perfect fit”.

“Upon meeting Claude, his attention to detail, knowledge of our squad, understanding of our potential and his vision to help us realise it were extremely impressive,” he said.

“He quickly emerged as the outstanding candidate and I am delighted we will have the opportunity to reinforce our long-term vision, aided significantly by his expertise.”

Puel, who previously managed AS Monaco, Lille, Olympique Lyonnais and Nice, led Southampton to eighth in the Premier League last season.

His performance at Southampton was in spite of losing a number of key players in high-profile transfers.

He also guided them to the League Cup final where they lost 3-2 to Manchester United.

But he was sacked after a poor finish to a campaign during which Southampton scored only 41 goals in 38 league games.

Shakespeare was appointed Leicester manager in March following the dismissal of Italian Claudio Ranieri nine months after he led the team to their first-ever English top-flight title.

Leicester are 14th in the Premier League and host Everton in Puel’s first game in charge on Sunday.

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Team captain Evans was taken off with a groin problem while Barry was withdrawn early in the second half due to a back strain.

However, manager Tony Pulis is most concerned about Dawson, who has sustained a knee injury.

“I’ve been at the club nearly three years and it’s seemed like we’ve rarely had an injury.

“But now we’ve got these problems, and also Oliver (Burke), James Morrison and Hal (Robson-Kanu) back at home as well,” Pulis told the club’s website (www.wba.co.uk)

Pulis said all three players will be assessed ahead of 13th-placed West Brom’s match against league leaders Manchester City on Saturday.

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