Antonio Conte's Chelsea predecessor Carlo Ancelotti marvels at his "extraordinary" start as Blues boss
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Carlo Ancelotti has hailed Antonio Conte for the “extraordinary” job he is doing at Chelsea.
Conte inherited a side that finished 10th when he took over in the summer but has revived the Blues and steered them to top spot.
They are now firm favourites to lift the title and Conte has the chance to equal a 15-year-old Premier League record at Tottenham on Wednesday night, to underline the impressive work he has done so far.
Victory at White Hart Lane would be their 14th in a row in the league, equalling the number of back-to-back victories Arsenal racked up in 2002.
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And if Chelsea do topple Spurs, theirs would arguably be an even greater achievement as all of their successive wins will have come in the same season.
Ancelotti, who won a 2010 league and FA Cup Double during his two-year Chelsea reign, said: "What Conte is doing at Chelsea is extraordinary.
"Antonio has determination, ideas, personality and experience. He's mature as a coach now and I'm truly happy for him.”
And Ancelotti compared Conte's flying start in England to the success legendary player Zinedine Zidane is enjoying at Real Madrid in his first taste of senior management.
He said: "[Zinedine] Zidane has won the Club World Cup after winning the Champions League [with Real Madrid], and there were people who thought he was not a coach.
“The truth is Conte and Zidane had quality on the field and they've taken that into their new jobs with them."
(Photo: Action Images)
Chelsea could hardly have a tougher test to pass to equal Arsenal's record in the shape of in-form Spurs.
The rivalry between the two clubs has cranked up a notch over the last couple of seasons.
Spurs hammered Chelsea 5-3 on New Year's Day two years ago in a famous win for the north Londoners, but Chelsea gained some revenge by beating Spurs in the League Cup final that season.
And they hammered the final nail in Tottenham's title coffin last term by fighting back from a 2-0 down to hold Spurs to a dramatic, ill-tempered 2-2 draw and hand Leicester the league.
Despite the animosity and their history bid defender Gary Cahill insists it is business as usual for the Blues.
(Photo: Getty)
He said: "It's not because it's Tottenham that's going to change in our preparation.
"It's going to be exactly the same and we expect exactly the same from each and every player come kick-off time and we'll be okay.
"It's not like all week we've been saying, 'We want this record, we want this record'. We've just kept going.
"Being aware of the record and wanting to achieve them, there's nothing wrong with that. Every player wants to be a part of records - I'm not shy about saying that - but it's not something we speak about.”