Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has commented on the difference in expectation between the Blues and Tottenham.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has told The Guardian that he thinks there is a huge difference in the expectations levels between the Blues and Tottenham.
The Blues suffered a shock home defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, with Conte’s men squandering a 1-0 lead to eventually lose 2-1 to Sam Allardyce’s resurgent Eagles.
Elsewhere, Tottenham beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor thanks to goals from Eric Dier and Son Heung-min to cut the gap at the top of the Premier League to seven points.
Spurs now have hope that they can chase down Chelsea in the race for the title, especially given that the likes of Danny Rose and Harry Kane are coming back from injury imminently.
Chelsea have the chance to ease fears tonight though, as they play host to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, whilst Tottenham will be taking on relegation-threatened Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.
With a seven-point gap to make up and just a handful of games to play, Tottenham are still the underdogs in the title race – and Chelsea boss Conte has now commented on the differing expectation levels of the two clubs.
Conte has told The Guardian that the big difference between Chelsea and Spurs is that whilst not winning isn’t a disaster for Spurs, as they can find other ways to have a good season, winning is seen as normal for Chelsea.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
The Italian did though maintain that Chelsea were ‘underdogs’ for the title at the start of the season, and their position as league leaders is one that nobody expected them to be in, before admitting that whoever wins the title will have deserved it.
“I think the difference between Chelsea and Tottenham is this: if you stay in Chelsea and win, it’s normal. If you stay in Tottenham, if you win, it’s great, great but, if you lose … it’s not a disaster, no? Not a disaster,” said Conte. “Because you find a lot of ‘situations’ to explain a good season.
“But, I repeat, Chelsea were underdogs at the start of the season but now we are top and we want to keep this position. There are 27 points available, so anything can happen in the league. We need 21 points to win it mathematically but I think we are in a really good position. A position nobody thought Chelsea would be in. Whoever wins this league in the end will have deserved to win it,” he added.
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