The FA Cup is a very important trophy for Antonio Conte this season…

Whilst the Blues are flying in the Premier League, Chelsea have a storied history in the FA Cup – and the lack of Champions League action this season means that Antonio Conte must ensure that he makes a go of it, given that it is his only chance of silverware this season outside of the Premier League.

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After a decent win against Peterborough earlier in the competition, Chelsea came up against Brentford this time around – and in typical Conte fashion, the Blues turned out another impressive display.

Goals from Pedro, Willian, Batshuayi and Ivanovic were enough to seal the points for the Blues – in a game that will surely give Conte confidence ahead of an important game at Liverpool on Tuesday.

Conte will have been delighted with the performances, and he’ll have a few key takeaways that he left the game with.

With that said, here are 3 things Conte learned from Chelsea’s dominant 4-0 victory over Brentford on Saturday…

 Wing-Back Alternatives

Beyond Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso, Chelsea don’t have much depth on the flanks. With Branislav Ivanovic no longer really involved, and Cesar Azpilicueta impressing in the middle – many thought that Conte might look to bring in another play as added depth.

However, the Italian has yet to do so – and opted to play Pedro as right wing-back against Brentford – and it worked a treat.

Much like it has with Victor Moses this season, Pedro fit into the role absolutely perfectly.

He is, obviously, more effective further forward – but he looked fantastic playing slightly deeper.  It is definitely another option for Antonio Conte.

 Kurt Zouma

Kurt Zouma’s road to recovery has been a very long one – but he is nearing on the final steps of that process.

He made another start against Brentford, playing in a back 3 alongside John Terry and Cesar Azpilicueta.

The game was his best yet, and Antonio Conte will likely be delighted that he has another play to choose from at the back.

After all, the trio of Azpilicueta, Cahill and Luiz have played almost every game so far this season – and it is only a matter of time before one of those players needs a rest. Conte now knows that Zouma can step in.

 Strength in Depth

For the most part this season, Antonio Conte has been forced to play the same team on a fairly regular basis. Players like N’Golo Kante, Diego Costa and Marcos Alonso have played nearly every game so far – and that is something that has to change.

Chelsea’s squad is small, but the players that he chose to play in the FA Cup proved that they could do a job for the Italian players.

Fringe players like Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Zouma and Batshuayi all looked good – and whilst they have rarely started this season, they looked like they had been in the side all year long.

Going forward, Conte will need to utilise more of his squad – and he now nows that he can trust them.

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