Five reasons why Chelsea can win the Premier League under Antonio Conte

No European football

You have to go all the way back to 1996/97 to find a year when Chelsea didn’t play in European competition. Mark Hughes was the Blues’ top scorer, Ruud Gullit was player-manager and Chelsea won the FA Cup.

This time around, Chelsea once again have a new manager, a much stronger squad than they had back then, and with no European football as a distraction Chelsea could be a big threat to the Manchester clubs at the top.

We’ve seen what Leicester could do last season with no Champions League to distract them, whilst Liverpool had a similar advantage in 2013/14 when they finished second and really should have won the league.

With Manchester City potentially prioritising Europe under Pep Guardiola, and with Manchester United having to play the notoriously difficult Thursday-Sunday rotation, Chelsea could be in prime position to take advantage.