Antonio Conte makes realistic prediction about Chelsea in title race
The Chelsea boss opens up about the title race after Saturday's 1-0 win against Bournemouth
Antonio Conte has warned Chelsea that the defending champions must be realistic about their title bid this season.
The Blues were 1-0 winners against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday night thanks to Eden Hazard’s brilliant finish.
Chelsea hoisted themselves up to fourth place in the table but the west London outfit are nine points behind leaders Manchester City.
The title holders have already lost to Burnley and Crystal Palace this term, while Manchester City were 1-0 winners against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge at the end of September thanks to Kevin De Bruyne’s winner.
The Blues won 13 successive Premier League throughout October, November, December and early January last season to build a substantial lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Chelsea will likely require another winning streak to overhaul Manchester City given the Citizens’ impressive performances at the top of the Premier League table
But Conte was quick to play down talk of Chelsea overhauling Manchester City in the title race given the size of the Citizens’ advantage after 10 games.
“At this moment we must be realistic by going game by game,” Conte told Sky Sports News.
“We have 19 points and we deserve to have 19 points.
“We are first in our group in the Champions League. We went into the next round of the Carabao Cup after going out in the second round last season.
“I’m very happy with this group. There are players who are very honest, players who want to fight until the end for something important.
“Are we able to do this? I don’t know. But we will try to stay there. I know very well that, in England in this league, there are six top teams, very strong.”
Chelsea will make the trip to the Italian capital to take on AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday night.
The Blues have won the Premier League title in two of the past three seasons.
