Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte not getting carried away yet

The league title is dependent on two wins from fixtures with Middlesbrough, West Brom, Watford and Sunderland, with the Double down to an FA Cup final with Arsenal.

“There are two teams with desperation to find the result because Middlesbrough have to win if they want to continue to hope to play in the Premier League next season and for us it’s the same, we have to win because Tottenham are very close, so I think we will see a really good game on Monday”.

Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas is just 1 assist away from getting his 10th of the season.

The Italian says the extreme competition in the English game has a negative effect on performance in continental competition and on the England national team, and expects it to be hard for Chelsea to perform well in the Champions League next season as a result.

He added: “Last season I supported a lot Claudio Ranieri to win the title”.

“I’d prefer to have 23 votes and vote for every one of my players that is for sure”, Conte said when asked which of Hazard or Kante deserves to land the accolade. “For a team like Chelsea the Champions League must be home, and [we have] to try and play in it every season. But, honestly, when you arrive and you face this league, you must change your mind on a lot of things – adapt very well and very quickly”.

Since their 2-0 set-back to Manchester United a few weeks back, the Blues have picked up impressive wins against Southampton, Everton and Tottenham in the FA Cup, and it seems just a matter of time before they are crowed England’s best team.

Speculation continues that Chelsea’s top scorer Diego Costa will follow Oscar’s lead in pursuing greater riches in the Chinese Super League at the end of this season. Conte has spoken plenty of times this season about how damaged Chelsea were when he took over last summer, and he reiterated on Friday what a fix job he had to do.

“My expectation for this game is we must play a great game against Middlesbrough“, he said.

“Next season for us it will be the same”. “Of course, if it goes our way then we’ll look forward to Monday”.

The Chelsea FC will be desperate to claim all three points this Monday night, in a bid to keep the manager Pochettino’s relentless, title chasing Spurs side at bay, and extent their dominance at the top of the league.

Conte is aware his squad is too thin to compete across four fronts, especially with Chelsea supporters expecting an exciting return to European football under the Italian.

“If you consider our games and their games”, he said, “there is a difference of what, eight games?” Second-half goals from Vincent Kompany, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi completed the scoring as City leapfrogged Liverpool into third in the Premier League, on goal difference, and also moved four points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United.