Chelsea's Win over West Brom Shows the Premier League Title Is Theirs to Lose

STAMFORD BRIDGE, London — No other team can win the Premier League title; only Chelsea can lose it now.

It may not even be Christmas yet, but that's the state of the title race after Antonio Conte's side recorded a ninth win in as many league matches with a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

It's an incredible run of form that the Blues find themselves on, having conceded just twice in those nine matches and scoring 23. That leaves Chelsea three points clear of Arsenal in second, with Manchester City and Liverpool a further four back.

On form alone, they are England's standout side. At the end of September, Conte's men seemed down and out, languishing in eighth place in the table after sobering back-to-back defeats against Liverpool and Arsenal. They were well off the pace of their title rivals, but a change of formation has meant they've been unstoppable ever since.

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We've seen Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and City on the receiving end of Chelsea's brilliance. Those sides weren't just beaten, either; they were thumped in some cases.

For all we've witnessed in these past couple of months, it's doing Chelsea a disservice to suggest this is just about a formation. That's too simple. This is about a manager who is bordering levels of genius in his approach and, crucially, players who are showing they are worth the hype from two seasons ago, when they were crowned champions.

Defeating West Brom showed us that. This wasn't a victory played out before a backdrop of high-octane football that had us salivating with every attacking move. It was about substance, a desire to overcome stubborn opponents who were content to leave west London with a well-earned point.

In many ways, beating the Baggies is Chelsea's best win yet. Not because of the football the Blues played but how they went about their victory. Conte alluded to that much in his post-match press conference.

"I'm pleased after this game, as it was very difficult," the Chelsea boss said. "I like to see my team fight in the same way as West Brom. It wasn't easy, but they showed great character, great attention, great motivation to try to win."

As it stands, no other team we can rank as being title challengers is competing on that same level. City have looked easy pickings this past fortnight, especially when we consider the manner in which they collapsed against Leicester City on Saturday.

Liverpool have also shown a tendency to be weak at key moments. Not only did they lose to Burnley away from home earlier this term, but they also recently threw away a two-goal lead in the final minutes against Bournemouth to lose 4-3.

As ever when we consider Arsenal, it's Arsene Wenger's side's inability to scrap out victories that raises big questions on whether they can go the distance.

For this Chelsea team, 3-4-3 or not, they've erased all those doubts since the end of September. We knew they could win playing beautifully—Everton and United can attest to that. Yet that isn't the true measure of championship-winning sides. It's when they're being frustrated that we see their true colours. Against West Brom, we saw the same Chelsea we did against Middlesbrough in November.

Conte's men are playing with real guts. Diego Costa's winning goal on 76 minutes was as much about that as it was his ability to smash the ball past Ben Foster from a tight angle into the top corner.

The striker had been living off scraps all game. Playing against a six-man defence will do that to any frontman, and as the clock wore down, it appeared Tony Pulis' men were going to do what few have this season by stopping Costa.

As frustrating as it was to watch, it was West Brom's right to turn up and prevent Chelsea from playing the way we know they can. They did it by simple numbers, by congesting midfield and defence to give Costa and Eden Hazard little space in which to express themselves.

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All Costa needed was a sniff, though, and he took his chance by stealing the ball off Gareth McAuley before rushing on goal to deliver the Blues all three points.

The Spain international seized the initiative in the exact same way as Conte's side has done in the title race. He arrived unannounced; he was unfancied and had it all to do. Yet still he put his neck on the line and chased what seemed a lost cause.

That speaks of desire and stubbornness. Better still for Chelsea, it speaks of champions. The Blues aren't going to allow this advantage they have built at the top to slide easily. They've worked too hard for that to happen. Indeed, they continue to work for that to be the case.

Systems are one thing, but character is quite another. On that alone, Chelsea have the advantage over the opposition.

The message Conte has delivered to Arsenal, Liverpool and City is "catch us if you can." Right now, it doesn't seem any of them will regardless of whether it’s December.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.