Antonio Conte has taken a swipe at the complaints of Jose Mourinho and Arsène Wenger over Chelsea’s Christmas and new-year fixture list by insisting the pair are angry only because his team are top of the Premier League.

Mourinho, the Manchester United manager, has referred to his former club as “the privileged ones”, while Wenger has claimed the fixture list is the most “uneven” he has seen in 20 years.

Chelsea play their third game in 10 days over Christmas and new year against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night, as they attempt to equal Arsenal’s record of 14 successive league victories.

United completed a schedule of three games in eight days with a win at West Ham United on Monday night, while Arsenal’s trip to Bournemouth on Tuesday night was their second match in three days.

But Conte, the Chelsea head coach, dismissed the protests of Mourinho and Arsenal manager Wenger by saying: “I think they are angry for our position not for the fixtures. It’s normal, this also happens in Italy. It’s always because you are top. I didn’t do the fixtures. The advantage is one more day of rest over Tottenham. That’s the advantage if we want to speak about advantages. But for me the advantages are other things.