Talk regarding this season’s Premier League title race seems to be focused on Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool who, after all winning during the weekend just gone, sit top the division - level on 23 points after 10 games.The trio are all playing excellent football and look like they’ll be in the mix for the big prize by the time May comes around, but located just below them, only one point adrift, are Chelsea, who it seems very few fans and pundits are really talking up.Indeed, the Blues appear to be passing under the radar in terms of title talk, despite their form of late.Antonio Conte’s men, after a little wobble against Swansea, Liverpool and Arsenal, have steadied themselves and look handily placed to really challenge. Roll into this the fact they have no other competition to get distracted by until the FA Cup in the New Year, and it has to be said that their situation looks very healthy indeed.We at Football FanCast certainly aren’t underestimating the Londoners, and here the stats that prove they deserve to be counted as serious contenders…

The Conte effect…

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea career has already endured ups and downs. The Italian initially oversaw three wins on the spin against West Ham, Watford and Burnley, but the first international break of the campaign somewhat disrupted their progress and was followed by a return of one point from games against Swansea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

It seems that the Gunners defeat was the moment Conte elected to change his approach, moving away from the 4-1-4-1 formation in favour of his three-man defensive system. To strike a balance between what he wants to do and what he has available, the 3-5-2 he used at Juventus and with the Italian national team has been tweaked to become a 3-4-3, with overlapping wing-backs allowing the likes of Eden Hazard and Pedro to drift inside to support the sole striker, Diego Costa.

Behind them, N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic patrol the midfield, where their athleticism and power provide the bedrock.

The results have backed up the decision to make the shift, with Chelsea winning all four of the games in which Conte’s new set-up has been utilised.

Mean at the back

Building on the 3-4-3 shift, Chelsea have been extremely tight at the back in recent weeks. Indeed, they’ve managed four clean sheets on the bounce in the league, which has catapulted them up to become the Premier League's joint-most prolific team in terms of shutouts – level with Spurs on five.

Title-winning teams, it’s often said, are built on a solid defensive foundation. So when times are hard in front of goal Chelsea will, as long as they can maintain this, have a starting point to grind out results.

Deadly Diego

Diego Costa’s 2015/16 was a forgettable one, which saw him enter the current season somewhat under the radar. The Spaniard has, however, been the third most prolific forward in England’s top tier since his summer 2014 arrival from Atletico Madrid, smashing 40 goals.

His return of eight in ten games thus far this season makes him the leading scorer in the Premier League, and having a dangerous man in front of goal renders Chelsea a real threat going into the rest of the season.

Revival

Citing how poor his Chelsea side were last season feels rather like kicking Jose Mourinho while he’s down, but we’ll do it anyway! As the numbers illustrate, the Blues have exactly double their tally of points from the same stage of last season, which shows the turnaround under Conte.

The early weeks of the campaign could have been written off as the ‘new manager bounce’, but confidence is clearly growing in the west end of London. As the wins rack up, it’s harder and harder to claim that this form is a flash in the pan.

Hazard is back

Although Hazard’s work ethic last season can be questioned, he remains one of the Premier League’s most effective and dangerous players. The Belgian is unplayable when fit and motivated, and it appears that, on both fronts, he is this term.

Indeed, he’s already out-done his scoring return from 2015/16 in just ten matches this campaign following his goal against Southampton on Sunday, which shows just how well things are going for the once PFA Player of the Year.

An on-form Hazard could well be the difference in this season's title race.