Chelsea’s response at Leicester City will show if they possess the mentality required to win title

Graham Caygill on why Chelsea's ability to respond from their defeat to Tottenham Hotspur will teach us much about their title credentials.

Antonio Conte has transformed Chelsea into Premier League title favourites. His job now is to make sure his team shrug off their defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and return to winning ways against LeicesteShow more

The December 2015 Premier League clash between Leicester City and Chelsea proved to be an important one for the London side.

That match saw the end of Jose Mourinho’s second spell in charge of Chelsea when he was dismissed following the 2-1 loss to Leicester, just seven months after guiding Chelsea to the title.

Chelsea’s next trip to the King Power Stadium is on January 14 and will be a critical one again, though not in the context of last year.

It will be a test of character for Antonio Conte’s side as, for the first time since September, they will be going into a match on the back of a league defeat.

Chelsea have 10 days to stew over their 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night, which ended a run of 13 successive victories.

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There is an FA Cup third round clash with Peterborough United of League One on Sunday to be played before they face Leicester, but Conte will unlikely field a full strength side, given they will expect to progress comfortably. His focus will be on Leicester.

Chelsea have been on a terrific run of form. The sequence of wins equalled the most achieved by a team in one season.

While Eden Hazard and Diego Costa have dominated the headlines it has been a real team effort.

Chelsea’s last league loss, 3-0 at Arsenal in September, had been a humbling one. They were eighth in the table and a rebuilding process appeared on the horizon.

Conte reacted by switching formation to 3-4-2-1, and a 2-0 victory at Hull City on October 1 set the ball rolling on the run of results that took them to the top of the table by five points after 20 games.

The hard part now is backing that form up, especially now everyone in the league is aware of how Chelsea have managed to get themselves to the top.

Bournemouth last month played three at the back, and caused Chelsea more problems than the subsequent 3-0 loss would indicate.

Eddie Howe’s side will not be the last to change it up when facing the leaders.

The hunters will now be the hunted, and Chelsea do not have a big advantage, despite their recent run, to play with.

If they had been victorious again on Wednesday it would have been an eight-point lead. Instead it is five, and the nearest five sides to them are all within 10 points.

When Chelsea began this run there was little attention on them, given their average form beforehand.

That could be stretched back to the beginning of the season when arguably they were a side story with the main focus being on Pep Guardiola v Jose Mourinho and Manchester City v Manchester United.

But that smokescreen is gone. All eyes are on Conte and Chelsea. They are the title favourites, and it would be a considered a real disappointment, given their position, if they did not go on and take the title.

A lot is learnt about a side’s character in moments of setback rather than triumph, and the response that Conte and Chelsea give to their defeat at Tottenham, with the attention now on them, will be fascinating to watch.

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