Antonio Conte: 3-5-2 has given Chelsea 'new balance and solidity'

Antonio Conte claimed that Chelsea have found a "new balance and solidity" by switching to a 3-5-2 formation after watching his team demolish West Brom 4-0 at The Hawthorns.

Eden Hazard capped a scintillating individual performance with two goals, while Alvaro Morata and Marcos Alonso also found the net as Chelsea earned their fourth consecutive win in the Premier League to keep themselves on the fringes of the title race.

Conte named the same starting XI that had defeated Manchester United at Stamford Bridge a fortnight earlier, partnering Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko in a three-man central midfield and keeping faith with academy graduate Andreas Christensen over David Luiz to anchor the defence.

Saturday's win saw Chelsea record back-to-back clean sheets for the first time in the Premier League this season, and after the match Conte insisted that his team's improvement since last month's humiliating Champions League defeat to Roma indicates that the changes in personnel and system are working.

"This season I think we're changing something to find a new balance, a new solidity, to have a good balance when we are attacking and when we are defending," Conte said. "I hope to continue to improve. This is the second game we finished with a clean sheet and we have to continue in this way.