Over the course of Chelsea's past 27 matches in all competitions, in which they have been defeated just twice, there has been much debate on how to stop Antonio Conte's juggernaut. Many tactics have been put into practice to differing degrees of success without conclusive solutions being found.
The first theory was mirroring the Blues' formation and deploying a three-man defence in order to directly match up against them. Such thinking was blurred, given that almost every team that tried it was using a system they were unfamiliar with against a team that practiced it regularly. Sunderland, Bournemouth, Stoke, Leicester and Hull all came unstuck in the weeks either side of the New Year, losing 1-0, 3-0, 4-2, 3-0 and 2-0 respectively.