Antonio Conte has told his Chelsea players to “keep the antenna high” and forget talk the title could be theirs this weekend.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte feels that the Premier League title race is far from over, despite the firm grip his side have on first place at this point in the campaign.
Chelsea go into a big clash with London rivals Arsenal on Saturday, taking with them a nine point lead in the title race, and may feel that if Chelsea can find a winning result at Stamford Bridge – the title race will be settled.
But the Chelsea boss, who led Juventus to three straight titles, wants his squad to maintain the kind of “tension” that helped them win 13 straight league games after September’s defeat at the Emirates.
“Anything can happen,” he said. “It’s important to keep the antenna very high. If someone thinks that the league is finished, I’m not so sure.
“I want to have this tension, this right tension. In the past I fight to win the title and I know we must pay great attention. There are 15 games to play and there are a lot of great teams behind us.”
“And in my mind it’s present, it’s always present, this defeat. I hope it’s also in the mind of my players.
“A lot of things changed now. For sure we are a team. We want to have a good game tomorrow.”
Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Chelsea in the last fixture between the two was the catalyst for change, pushing Antonio Conte to change to Chelsea’s current system, that has allowed them to reinvent themselves as they soared to the top of the Premier League.
Arsenal approach the game coming off of a loss at The Emirates to Watford – a result that they will need to keep out of mind if they have any hopes of harming Chelsea’s push for the Premier League crown.
