Jose Mourinho cares little that Chelsea's eight-point advantage over Manchester City has been cut to three at the halfway point of the Premier League season.
The Blues have been pace-setters since their opening win at Burnley, with only Thursday's opponents Tottenham temporarily overtaking them on goal difference after two rounds of matches.
Now, after playing all the other 19 teams in the Premier League and ahead of the first return fixture of the season on New Year's Day, Mourinho has reflected on a strong start by his Blues.
"Everybody starts with the same points and if we have one more point than them, we did well,'' Mourinho said. "We are top of the league at the end of the first round because we deserve it and because it is a consequence of what we did.
"Chelsea is playing very well since the beginning of the season. That's the only thing we work at, the only thing we concentrate on.
"And in the second part of the season we are going to try to do exactly the same thing. Against Tottenham, we will be there again trying to get a good result.''
Mourinho is chasing a third Premier League title and Chelsea's first in five years.
Seven times he has led a championship on Christmas Day -- in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain -- and each time his teams have gone on to win the title.
Chelsea, who were eight points clear of defending champions City during November, are indebted to Burnley that their lead was not cut to a solitary point.
The Clarets last Sunday fought back from two goals down to draw at City on a day when Chelsea had earlier been held to a 1-1 draw at Southampton.
Mourinho's men have drawn four times and lost once this season in the Premier League, but won all nine of their home matches.
City's revival has coincided with a difficult spell on the road for Chelsea, who have dropped points in three of their last four away games in drawing at Sunderland and Southampton and losing at Newcastle.
"We had very difficult fixtures away from home,'' Mourinho added. "We lost one game that we didn't deserve to lose (at Newcastle). We are doing well.''
Chelsea's only other dropped points were at City and at Manchester United, who are 10 points adrift in third in what appears already to be a two-horse title race.
Mourinho has a full squad to choose from for the trip to White Hart Lane to play a Spurs side who are without a win in 10 matches against their London rivals. Tottenham have not beaten Chelsea since April 2010.