Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is close to winning the Premier League title in his first season in English football
On Tuesday night Chelsea moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a 4-2 victory over Southampton at Stamford Bridge.
A double from Diego Costa, along with strikes from Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard were enough to seal the victory for the Blues.
Title rivals Tottenham can cut the gap again to four points on Wednesday night when they visit London rivals Crystal Palace.
However, the game is no forgone conclusion for Spurs, as Palace seems to have found form in the last few months.
Chelsea deserve to the title because of Antonio Conte
As a neutral, I have always liked Chelsea boss Antonio Conte. I am not a fan of any particular team in Italy, but he built something special at Juventus. He revived the Bianconeri and helped them recapture their former glories.
In a sense, he has done a similar thing at Chelsea, but to a lesser extent as the Blues were champions just two seasons ago. The fiery Italian has restored the belief in that Chelsea side. He has helped the likes of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa perform to close to their best.
The biggest surprise has been how he has managed to make a player out of Nigerian international winger Victor Moses. The former Crystal Palace star had never quite nailed down a place anywhere really in the last few years.
However, Conte turned the 26-year-old into a wing-back and suddenly he is not only starting games but is influential in how the Blues play as well. Only a managerial genius can come up with solutions like playing Moses as a wing-back.
His summer signings of David Luiz, N’Golo Kante and Marcos Alonso have also been wildly successful. He can be forgiven the signing of Michy Batshuayi, although it is highly questionable if the striker was his signing.
Conte is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and that is visible on the touchline. He seems to kick every ball. The Italian has also refrained from entering the mind games until fairly recently when he talked about the Manchester clubs.
Have been the most consistent team
Chelsea for the majority of the campaign have been the most consistent team in the top-flight. At first, that meant the Blues keeping clean sheets, but more recently it has meant them outscoring teams. Either way, they have found a way of consistently picking up the wins.
Spurs are a fantastic team and have been very consistent of late. However, earlier in the campaign Mauricio Pochettino’s side went through a period where they struggled to win games in all competitions.
If Tottenham had managed to stay consistent in that period then they may have been closer to the Blues in the title race now.
Chelsea are clear favourites to win the title
Chelsea have looked like clear favourites for the title for the last few months. However, a few slip-ups of late seem to have put the destination of the title in jeopardy.
The Blues are now odds of 1/14 to win the title this season. The bookmakers certainly believe that Conte’s side are nearly home and hosed as champions this season.
Love them or loathe Chelsea have been a highly organised and highly consistent team this season. It would be hard to argue that they have deserved to be English champions this season.
I really like Tottenham and boss Mauricio Pochettino. However, I do believe that the Blues have had just a bit more than their north London counterparts this season.
If Chelsea does win the title this season, they will have very little time to enjoy it, as next season it will be even harder to retain the trophy. However, winning the title will be an impressive achievement for Conte’s debut campaign in England.
Does Chelsea deserve to win the title this season?
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