da 888casino： Chelsea breezed through to the 5th Round of the FA Cup with a 4-0 blitzing of Championship side Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
da spicy bet： There was no romance in the cup for Brentford with the Blues doing a professional job on the Bees despite Antonio Conte naming a heavily rotated side.
Goals from Willian, Pedro, Ivanovic and Batshuayi provided victory for Chelsea who showed that there’s no sign of them slowing down anytime soon under Antonio Conte.
That’s four wins in a row now for Chelsea, since defeat against Spurs ended their previous winning run. Who’d bet against them going on a similar lengthy winning run in the coming weeks and months?
Here are FIVE lessons we can take from Saturday’s big win…
Batshuayi doing everything he can to impress
With another goal and assist to his name against Brentford, Michy Batshuayi is doing everything he can to convince Antonio Conte he deserves his first Premier League start.
While it likely won’t come away to Liverpool on Tuesday night, it can’t be too far away. He’s contributed massively in both domestic cups for the Blues and seems determined to fight for a place in Conte’s plans despite a lack of first team football this season.
That’s heartening for fans to see and proves he could have the right attitude to succeed at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have the depth required
Antonio Conte rung the changes for the visit of Brentford but unlike other Premier League sides who did similar in the FA Cup on Saturday, they came through the test with flying colours.
It shows that the Chelsea boss has infused confidence and belief into his whole squad, not just a regular starting XI and that’s absolutely key when fighting for silverware, especially in the closing months of the season.
Players like Begovic, Terry, Fabregas and Pedro all performed admirably and looked well capable of featuring regularly for the Blues in Premier League action.
Chelsea’s squad depth is second to none in England and there’s a chance the Blues could strengthen either further with still enough time to do business at the end of the January transfer window…
Conte’s kids looking good
It’s not just Chelsea’s older fringe players ready to come in and do a job for the Blues, their young stars look very capable also.
Chalobah, Ake and Loftus-Cheek are all players in their early twenties that look ready for more first team action at Stamford Bridge this season. That must be incredibly exciting for Chelsea supporters who have waited a long time to see younger talent coming through the ranks.
Whether it’s in the cup or the Premier League, there’s no doubt that all three home grown stars will feature in games to come this season.
Ake’s performance was particularly notable given his change of position, slotting in nicely on Chelsea’s left hand side after featuring impressively at centre-back for Bournemouth this season.
The double is on
There’s no doubt that Chelsea now have an excellent chance to secure a massive double in the league and FA Cup.
They’re eight points ahead in the league and it’s going to take an almighty performance to dump them out of the cup. Conte’s side are firing on cylinders and show no signs of slowing down on their quest for silverware.
Yes they may have been facing lower league opposition on Saturday but you get the impression that had it been a Premier League side, the win would have been just as commanding.
Only Spurs have managed to punish them in recent months and that rare off night has done little to diminish their forward momentum.
Can anyone stop an inevitable march towards serious silverware?
Conte’s system set in stone
We often see in football that when massive changes are made to a side, the manager’s tactical system falters and teams look disjointed and unable to put together a cohesive performance.
There was no such trouble on Saturday for Antonio Conte with his fringe players performing just as well as his more established stars in his free-flowing 3-4-3 formation.
In defence and attack Chelsea were imperious with both Nathan Ake and Pedro dominating the left and right flanks.
His system is now set in stone at the club and he no longer needs to think about changing to a back four if ringing the changes to his team selection.
It’s a formation and style of play that English sides still haven’t quite figured out how to combat.