Chelsea are now sitting comfortably at the top of the Premier League table, weeks after pundits and fans alike had already handed them the title, with a whopping ten point gap separating themselves and the chasing pack.
With no European football over the coming weeks, the only other distraction to Antonio Conte’s march to the Premier League title in his maiden season in English football is that of the FA Cup, where a quarter final clash with Manchester United awaits.
Even so, should the Blues go all the way in the cup, that is just another three games to worry about between now and May.
Therefore with such a margin separating themselves with their title ‘challengers’, regardless of how professional the players are, Conte must battle to keep his players focussed and at 100% for the run in.
Whilst results from clubs around them will not, at this stage, effect the mood of the squad to any real extent, results from inside the walls of Stamford Bridge and the Cobham training ground could keep the west Londoners firing on all cylinders.
The re-introduction of Cesc Fabregas to the fold in the win over Swansea City at the weekend may have been the start, but Conte has plenty of players at his disposal to keep those currently in the first team on their toes.
Taking Fabregas as an example, to start with, N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic have been the go to men in midfield this season, but in the Spaniard they have a rival who made 33 Premier League starts for the Blues last season and has already matched his assist tally of seven from that campaign, having started just six games under Conte, making a further 11 appearances from the bench.
Out wide, and there has been a bold and notable change from the Italian this term. Brazil international, and Chelsea’s best player by a long way last season, Willian has made just 12 Premier League starts this time around, to his 32 last year, coming off the bench on just ten occasions this season, and also bagging just as many goals so far as he did in the entire campaign last season.
Add to that the return of Kurt Zouma from a long term injury and the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill and David Luiz, who already had club legend John Terry to worry about, will be desperate not to be the one to lose out when he returns to full team action.
Therefore, while it may seem like Chelsea could fall into holiday mode any day soon, whilst still winning the league at a canter, the former Italy and Juventus boss is slowly beginning to pull the strings behind what could be a huge battle between the players to keep their spots. A battle which can only bring better performances for the Chelsea fans.