Antonio Conte believes Sunday’s game against Manchester United comes at the perfect time for his Chelsea side.

The Blues, quoted 11.00 to win the Premier League title, are still to truly find their rhythm under their new Italian boss, but have shown signs of improvement following his recent decision to switch to his preferred three-man defence.

United are the visitors to Stamford Bridge on Sunday and the game will see a familiar face return to south-west London, as Jose Mourinho faces his former club for the first time since his infamous departure last December.

The match pits two of football’s sharpest tacticians against each other and both will be doing all they can to identify areas of possible weakness.

Having seemingly successfully integrated his preferred system in the wins over Hull and Leicester, Conte believes his side are now heading in the right direction ahead of their clash with the Red Devils, who are 13.00 to top the standings.

The Blues boss says he is pleased by what he has seen from his troops in recent weeks and believes the timing of the United game is ideal.

“I think that it arrives at the right moment for us,” he said. “It’s important to continue this way. “The last game we beat a good team that last season won the title and this was important.

On Sunday we face another great team. I want to see progress compared to Liverpool and Arsenal. I am confident about this.

I saw fantastic commitment this week.” Chelsea are 2.25 to win on Sunday, with the draw 3.20 and United priced at 3.60.