Conte still cautious of Chelsea’s pursuers
BURNLEY: Antonio Conte believes any of six teams could still win the Premier League despite his Chelsea side having a big lead at the summit after drawing 1-1 at Burnley.
Chelsea negotiated a potentially difficult visit to Turf Moor on Sunday, where Burnley have the third-best home record in the division, behind only Chelsea themselves and Tottenham Hotspur.
But despite the solid result, and commanding lead at the top of the table over second-place Tottenham, Conte refused to discuss his team’s increasingly strong chances of winning the championship.
“That’s normal. There are 13 games before the end,” said the Chelsea manager, whose side’s advantage would be cut to eight points if Manchester City won at Bournemouth early this morning, Thai time.
“If someone thinks this league is finished, I can tell you now, no.
“There are six teams for me that can win the league and anything can happen. We must continue to work in this way.
“I am happy for the commitment and the will to win. You can only take one point, but I am sure of the commitment.
“We have to think only of ourselves, not the other teams. It is important to play your game, to think about your game and then you think about the other results.”
While Spurs are 10 points back, there are four teams — Arsenal, Liverpool, City and Manchester United — within two points of Mauricio Pochettino’s side and ready to pounce if Chelsea falter.
Pedro shot Chelsea into an early lead at Burnley, who were looking for a sixth consecutive top-flight home league victory for the first time in 56 years.
But Robbie Brady, the club-record £13 million (US$16.2 million) January signing from Norwich City, marked his home debut with a superb free-kick leveller midway through the first half.
Conte was quizzed about comments made by former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho 24 hours earlier.
The Portuguese manager made a veiled reference to Chelsea’s style of play, labelling them “defensive”, but Conte laughed off the comments.
“I don’t like to reply to the other coaches,” Conte said. “I don’t like this. He is joking. I have experience to understand this.”