Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has backed Eden Hazard to reach 40 goals for the season and win the Golden Boot award.

The Belgium international has hit the ground running on the back of an impressive World Cup both on a personal level and for his country, scoring five goals from five games.

Hazard notched three of those goals in Saturday's 4-1 win over Cardiff City, taking him one in front of the chasing pack in the Premier League scoring charts.

Sarri wants to see even more from his star attacker, however, who he has previously claimed can become the best player in the world.

"I think so," he told reporters when asked if Hazard can win the Golden Boot. "We have spoken and I told him he can score 40 goals.

"He has to improve some things, but he can do it. If you saw the game today, you have to say [he believed me]."

Hazard has never hit 20 or more club goals in all competitions in a single campaign, with his personal best at Chelsea coming in 2014-15 when netting 19.