Tottenham have prevented Chelsea from pulling away in recent weeks and remain just four points off the leaders with as many games remaining.

And though Chelsea secured the 2014-15 title with three games still to play, Matic said he did not foresee such an easy stroll to the trophy this time around.

"I think this year is more difficult," Matic told multiple English newspapers. "We finished 2015 eight points clear of Man City. I'm not sure this will be the case with Tottenham.

"I'm sure they will not give up until end of the season. At this moment it's hard, but we will see. Each time we win, they win, two years ago that was not the case."

Nemanja Matic says Tottenham have challenged Chelsea for the title every step of the way.

Chelsea's season has differed from their most recent title win as they try to hold on to an early lead, whereas two years ago they were more dominant in the second half of the campaign.

In 2015, Chelsea were level with Manchester City after New Year's Day, whereas this year they had a 10-point lead over Tottenham at that time -- before a 2-0 loss to Spurs on Jan. 4 ended the Blues' 13-game league winning streak and renewed the race.

"If I remember, on Jan. 1 [2015] when we lost 5-3 against Tottenham, we had the same points," Matic said. "But in 2015 we had good openings against Manchester City -- it was great.

"This season is hard. We win and Tottenham win, they are always close. But the important thing is that we are playing well, we take points and we will see if they can drop some points.

"They have some difficult games, home and away, so everything is open until the end."