Conte names six teams in ‘most difficult’ title race

And with Diego Costa firing on all cylinders, the dream of an unexpected EPL title triumph in Conte’s first season in charge of Chelsea has been reignited.

Manchester United complete the top six, but despite being nine points behind the leaders, they have still be named as contenders by Conte. “We won only 1-0 against a strong team with good organisation”.

On October 1st Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte switched his formation to a 3-4-3.

“After we had two defeats against Liverpool and then Arsenal, it wasn’t simple to believe we’d have six wins a row without conceding any goals”, Conte said.

“Diego Costa is one of the top scorers in the world”.

Conte was relieved to come away with maximum points ahead of a hard two weeks for Chelsea, who host Tottenham next Saturday before a trip to Manchester City.

Perhaps most remarkable of all is the form of David Luiz.

“We created many chances to score the second goal”.

Part of the freedom that he is afforded in right wing-back can be attributed to a stable midfield in the presence of Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante.

Thibaut Courtois should be Luiz’s biggest fan – he’s had so much protection that he’s earned £98,000 per save so far this season.

One of the most striking benefits has been the upturn in form of Eden Hazard, who appears to be back to his devastating best and flourishing in his number 10 role after a forgetful season under Jose Mourinho last term. Chelsea’s defensive weaknesses were once again exposed, possibly even more so than against Liverpool. But when I see these players work in this way, I’m pleased.

A sixth successive league victory and clean sheet on the trot saw the Blues rebound spectacularly after a disastrous September, when they failed to win a single game in the Premiership in three attempts.

Pat Nevin has revealed what he thinks can be an additional weapon against Tottenham this weekend – Stamford Bridge.

The hope, against a higher class of opposition, is that the Chelsea dominance will continue to shine through as teams struggle to stop Conte’s new unit.

It was a tumultuous 2015-16 campaign for the Blues as they posted the worst Premier League title defence in it’s 24 year history to finish a lowly 10th position in the league. The arrival of Antonio Conte was announced as early as the beginning of April and so the Italian had a considerable amount of time (longer than just the summer months) to plan his takeover of the club and shape the team under his own mould.