It is harder to manage Chelsea than Burnley, claims Conte

Antonio Conte believes he has a more difficult job than Sean Dyche and other managers who have smaller transfer budgets and are expected to fight relegation.

The Premier League table shows minimal difference between Chelsea, in fifth, and Burnley, who lie seventh, but perceptions could hardly be more contrasting. It has been cast as a failure for Conte’s defending champions while Dyche, whose team had been expected to struggle, has led Burnley to challenge for a Europa League place.

Conte praised his counterpart before Thursday night’s game at Turf Moor but left little doubt he did not take kindly to their performances being compared directly, making particular reference to a difference in transfer priorities.

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“He is doing an important job, a great job this season,” Conte said of Dyche. “But if you start the season fighting to avoid the relegation zone it is more simple – also if you have a small budget, because you can count on the team that in the past qualified to play again in the league. It is more difficult when you have to prepare in the transfer market to win something, because only one team wins.”

His point was that having finished 16th last season, Burnley could rely on the same core of players to survive again and had little need to seek reinforcements, a longstanding cause of tension between Conte and the Chelsea hierarchy.

Asked to elaborate, he suggested it was harder for those looking to avoid the drop – an ambition he gave to half the teams in the Premier League – to fail than those that are expected to win trophies. “You have to avoid the last three places at the bottom, and then you can stay between 10 teams that play only for this target,” he said. “You have to fight only to avoid this.

“It is difficult if you have to play to win because only one team wins and if the other doesn’t win you are the first to speak about a failed season. If you don’t win the FA Cup, the league, the Carabao Cup, it’s a failure season and for this reason it’s more difficult to play for this target.”

Conte pointed out he began his managerial career with the Italian minnows Arezzo, who were relegated under his charge, and said he was the “last person to [answer] this question” when the hypothetical prospect of swapping jobs with Dyche was mooted. His position remains under enough scrutiny but if Burnley are defeated the gap to fourth-placed Tottenham will narrow to five points.

“We are talking about a really good team,” he said of Spurs. “We have to try to do our best but at the same time we have to know that in front of us there is a team that [rarely drops] points.”

Emerson Palmieri is likely to start in the Premier League for the first time. He will replace Marcos Alonso, who may in any case be starting a three‑match ban for violent conduct if a Football Association charge – brought for a challenge on Southampton’s Shane Long – is upheld.