Antonio Conte explains formation switch at Chelsea

Head coach Antonio Conte has explained how he decided upon using a 3-4-3 formation at Chelsea.

The Blues were inconsistent during the opening weeks of the season but since switching to three in defence, the West London outfit have kept five successive clean sheets in the Premier League.

Conte has revealed that he had a number of considerations during his early months at the club but he has admitted that he now feels settled with the strategy which has taken the Blues to second place in the table.

The 47-year-old told the club's official website: "We started the season with another system because the idea in my mind was that I wanted to play with the 4-2-4, and then we switched with 4-3-3 and we played also in the same way like last year, 4-2-3-1.

"I noticed in some circumstances we didn't have the right balance because when you concede more goals than your opponent and even more chances to score a goal, it is never a good thing. For this reason, we switched to the new system of 3-4-3 and I think this is a good fit for our squad because also we have the strikers adapted for this system.

"I thought it would improve us offensively as well as defensively and we didn't lose our offensive situation. In this way we have increased it because we scored many goals and created a lot of chances to score the goals and also if you maintain the clean sheet, I think this is the right way."

Chelsea are back in action when they face Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on November 20.