Four matches into his new job Antonio Conte had doubts. Chelsea had taken ten points from 12 but rarely convinced. But managers do not change winning teams on a hunch, especially not new ones, certainly not if the players have seen off a succession of garlanded coaches. So Conte waited.

Then Chelsea lost at home to Liverpool, and away at Arsenal. Now Conte was convinced, and the dressing room was receptive. A free week – made possible by Chelsea’s absence from Europe – enabled the Italian to drill them on the training ground in an unfamiliar formation: 3-4-3. They went to Hull, kept a clean sheet, and won. They hosted the champions, kept a clean sheet, and won. Three months on they are clear at the top, still keeping clean sheets, still winning.

“In my mind,” revealed Conte after the 11th straight win, against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday, “before the game I understood our formation wasn’t good to face Liverpool, on the tactical aspect. And we paid for this. And also against Arsenal. And then I decided to change. To see my teams have two bad defeats - we deserved two bad defeats - I didn't like this. It changed something in me, in the players, in the club.

“Now we are playing with three central defenders and, in the history of Chelsea, maybe this has never happened. You hope you don’t [have to] change because I have players who have only played with four [defenders]. To change totally the situation is not easy, and you must go slowly to put your idea [across]. In my mind in the game against Liverpool there was the will to change, but I waited for the right moment - after two bad defeats. Now we have 11 wins, nine clean sheets. It's fantastic, because it's not easy to not concede a goal in this league.”

“Eleven games ago we were eight points less than [Manchester] City, now we have ten points more than them,” added midfielder Nemanja Matic, speaking before City’s match with Arsenal on Sunday. “We are where we want to be, but there is still a long way to go and we expect many hard games.”

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Show all 23 1 /23 Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Wayne Hennessey: 5 out of 10 Lost confidence after conceding, and should have done better with Chelsea's third. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Joel Ward: 7 out of 10 Impressed, both in defence and in delivering from the right flank, before the game was up. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Scott Dann: 6 out of 10 Never stopped fighting in a lost cause. 2015 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Damien Delaney: 6 out of 10 Held back by an early yellow card, he lost this season's round two with Costa. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Pape Souare: 5 out of 10 Ended the game flat on his back, and the preceding 90 minutes weren't much better. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings James McArthur: 6 out of 10 Showed his worth in protecting the defence and supporting the attack. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Mile Jedinak: 5 out of 10 Chased shadows in midfield before being booked and replaced. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Jason Puncheon: 7 out of 10 The most likely to make something happen for Palace, he was let down by his teammates' finishing. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Wilfried Zaha: 5 out of 10 Frustrated down the flank, his crossing and shooting lacked assertiveness. 2015 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Lee Chung-Yong: 5 out of 10 Tidy in possession, but his final ball was often inaccurate. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Fraizer Campbell: 5 out of 10 His manager wants a striker this transfer window, and this performance will not convince him otherwise. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Thibaut Courtois: 6 out of 10 Had little to do in facing Palace's makeshift attack. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Branislav Ivanovic: 6 out of 10 Uncompromising in his defensive duel with Zaha. 2015 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Kurt Zouma: 8 out of 10 Made some crucial first-half interceptions as Palace threatened to counter. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings John Terry: 7 out of 10 Utilised all of his experience to marshal his team to victory. 7 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Cesar Azpilicueta: 7 out of 10 A tidy performance at left-back where he showed a new willingness to get forward. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Cesc Fabregas: 8 out of 10 Demonstrated his true ability at times, most notably with a lovely through ball in the build-up to Oscar's opener. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings John Obi Mikel: 7 out of 10 Fortunate to escape a red card, let alone a yellow, but displayed his usual positional discipline to full effect. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Willian: 9 out of 10 A very good performance that sparked into a great one during ten second half minutes in which he scored one and made one. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Oscar: 8 out of 10 A continual nuisance in and around the Palace box, he set Chelsea on their way to success. 8 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Eden Hazard: 5 out of 10 Lasted just 16 minutes in what was one of his better performances this season. 5 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Diego Costa: 9 out of 10 Showed rare maturity in dealing both with Delaney's physical presence, and setting up the first goal. Deserved his when it came. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Best off the bench: Pedro 7 out of 10 Replaced Hazard, and immediately showed an attacking intent. GETTY IMAGES

Chelsea next host Bournemouth, on Boxing Day. The Cherries’ victory at Stamford Bridge was one of the matches that hastened the end for Jose Mourinho as the 2015 champions stumbled from defeat to defeat.

“We have tried to forget last season,” added Matic. “I forgot very quickly the season when we were champions too, because in football every day is a different challenge. No one asks what has happened before. The present and the future is the most important and this is good for us because last year was not good. We have confidence now. We work very hard every day in training and we understand each other very well.”

Matic cruised through Saturday’s match against a Palace side who struggle to penetrate centrally and whose wide men threaten only sporadically. “This year the results have not been good enough and we need to make sure they are better next year,” said manager Alan Pardew. “I’m hurting for Crystal Palace. It’s a great club, I think it’s got great owners, and we just can’t deliver on the results we would like.”

Pardew, who will target a left-back and striker in the transfer window, added: “We had a great 2015. We now need to replicate that in 2017, and we can do that.”