Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has reflected on the differences between this season and last season for Chelsea.

“My expectations are always the same: to try to do our best,” Conte said.

“I think we are doing this. We started this season with two favourites: the two Manchester clubs. Chelsea, like last season, wasn’t a favourite. Despite this, we want to fight every game and we want to improve. We must have patience to work with the club in the right way.

“Last season was an incredible challenge for me, after a 10th-place finish [in 2015/16] and then our start wasn’t good. I tried to find new tactical solutions and it was very difficult for me to find the best way, but we had a fantastic season.

“Now this season there is another challenge. We lost a lot of old players compared to last season. At the same time we bought young players who have a good future with Chelsea.”