Chelsea Fan View: Antonio Conte's men are suddenly looking over their shoulders

A game against Manchester City on Wednesday will have the Premier League watching the league leaders very closely as they run the risk of losing their comfortable seven point gap at the top following this weekend’s loss to Crystal Palace. Chelsea were comfortably in the lead not two weeks ago and suddenly find themselves in dangerous waters and need to be in highest gear to escape.

Already 30 games into the season, we have seen no shortage of drama in the rest of the EPL but with Chelsea we have seen a steady stream of wins and strong performances to place them atop the table. And suddenly with three points dropped at home to a steely Palace, the tables are nearly turned. A game against Manchester City following a loss is one of the worst fixtures for any team that is aiming to climb the charts.

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It’s not anything close to the risk of downfall seen last season by the Blues but it does have the chance of making life increasingly harder for the remaining eight fixtures. There typically would be some comfort gleaned from the fact that it’s going to be played at Stamford Bridge but it’s been a long time since the Chelsea grounds have enjoyed a fortress-like status, as proven by Sam Allardyce’s men on Saturday.

There wasn’t anything outstandingly bad about Chelsea’s performance against Palace, it was just bad luck coupled with rare defensive lapses at crucial moments. If Manchester City take their shots like Palace did and concentrate on staving off the front line of Chelsea, there could be one hell of a game on our hands.

Not only was it a disappointing result from the players but also from Antonio Conte who showed that when his back is up against the wall his decisions can lack the cunning that has risen him so far so fast and there is an air of panic about them.

Throwing on attackers and counting on overloading Crystal Palace didn’t work, and it was a tactic employed by Mourinho more and more towards the end of his tenure last year. If Conte doesn’t get it right from the start, Chelsea doesn’t have enough depth to compensate for a losing position. It’s his man management that pulls the Blues out of whatever hole they may find themselves in.

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Fighting for the title has been relatively straightforward thus far as long as Chelsea grind out the wins, the rest of the league would annihilate each other. Now, though, there is a serious risk of ground being lost in the title race if Chelsea were to lose to City.

City themselves haven’t been particularly stellar this season but they are still formidable foes. Conte will have to drill his players extra hard to ensure they take all three points.

Hazard, Costa, Willian, and Pedro will all need to show up on Wednesday to show the rest of the league that Chelsea deserve to be in top spot and have the steel to bounce back from challenges to take home the title.