Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images

Chelsea are currently outside of the top four as the Blues prepare to face West Brom tonight.

Chelsea won the league with Antonio Conte last season, but the club is in a different shape this season as Conte is now among the favourites to be sacked.

Baggies boss Alan Pardew reveals he’s sorry for Conte, while also admitting that Conte’s 3-4-3 system may have been found out, and the Blues are also missing Diego Costa.

Pardew said: “I think Conte will come through this. Chelsea can be a difficult club at times.

“I do feel sorry for him because the job he did last year was absolutely outstanding and I don’t really think he’s changed too much.

“Maybe the quality of the opposition has changed and maybe the players he’s had available haven’t been to the consistency he had when he won it.

“But you cannot fault his record and the job he’s done since he came to the Premier League.”

He added: “He’s (Costa) been a big miss because he’s a big character on the pitch and he can change the destiny of games, not so much with his ability sometimes but with his character.

“When you’ve got one of those at the top of the pitch they’re very difficult to replace.

“Chelsea had great momentum last season and they played a system that everybody was trying to deal with.

“We’ve all had extra time as managers to work out how to stop them so there’s been a little bit of that as well.”