Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has claimed that the Premier League title race is now a 50-50 battle between his side and Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs further closed the gap on the leaders this weekend courtesy of their 4-0 win over Bournemouth coupled with Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat at Manchester United today, although the Blues remain in pole position with a four-point advantage.
Conte described his side’s closing games of the season as “six finals” but believes that Spurs have as good a chance of lifting the trophy as they do.
“I think that the impact was very tough today, but when you play at Old Trafford it is normal to have this type of impact against a really strong team as United. We didn’t play a good game and United deserved to win the game. They showed more desire, more ambition, more motivation to win,” he told reporters.
“It is very simple, but in this case the fault is of the coach. It means the coach wasn’t able to transfer the right concentration, desire, ambition to win this type of game. Against Crystal Palace we didn’t deserve to lose, but today we deserved to lose the game. We have to think that there are six finals from now until the end. The league is open and we have a 50% probability to win the league.
“We will be good to finish on top of the table and it means we deserve this. Otherwise we deserve another thing. The pressure is normal. I prefer to play for the title instead of don’t fight for the title and stay calm. We are lucky to have the pressure.
“Last season Chelsea had no pressure – 10th place and you play calm, and you are happy. We must have great enthusiasm to play these last six games, with patience and a great will to fight. If we are able to win I think we must be proud for this, otherwise we must clap another team.”
Chelsea must still face Southampton, Everton, Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion, Watford and Sunderland this season.
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