Antonio Conte has warned title-chasing rivals that Chelsea won’t buckle under the pressure of leading the Premier League.
Chelsea are six points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table going into the festive period and are now overwhelming favourites to lift the title in Conte’s first season at the club.
But it remains to be seen how the Blues, under the Italian, will handle the pressure of leading the chase going into the second half of the season as the chasing pack try to hunt them down.
Conte has no doubts, insisting that being front-runners holds no fear for his team.
‘It’s good to stay in this position (at the top of the table),’ he said. ‘I don’t trust the people when they say,
“It’s important now to stay behind, and there’s pressure when you’re top”.
‘I’d prefer the pressure of being top of the table. We earned this position. Now it’s important to keep it. It won’t be easy, for sure.
‘I think we must have the right pressure.
“We all know that, now, we are doing fantastic things.
“If I go with my mind at the start of the season, not one person thought or forecast that Chelsea would stay top of the table, for many reasons.’
