Chelsea is the best team in the Premier League. While the entire team deserves credit for the improved play, manager Jose Mourinho has pinned a great deal of success on one player -- Eden Hazard.

The Belgian star has 12 goals and five assists on the year and is coming off a three-goal performance against Newcastle United on Saturday.

"He is special," Mourinho said, according to ESPN. "I don't want to compare him with the monsters, because the monsters have 10 years of career, winning trophies, scoring goals; I think it's not fair for the monsters and it's not fair for the kid to make that comparison."

One can only imagine that the "monsters" are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; Hazard has been repeatedly compared with the two superstars.

"But I don't see a better young player. I think in this moment he's the best young player in the world," he added. "Maybe with the hat-trick he has the chance to win, one day, the [Premier League] player of the month [award], because he never gets that.

"He's not good enough for that? Because other players are better than him? I don't know. I'm just saying."

Chelsea leads the Premier League with 56 points but the lead is tentative. Arsenal is just one point behind with 55 and Manchester City has 54. Chelsea still has one game against Arsenal at home and will no longer have to worry about Manchester City; the team took down the Citizens in both games this season.