Crystal Palace vs Chelsea: Alan Pardew admits Antonio Conte’s Blues are as good as they come and reckons visitors are ‘unbeatable’

ALAN PARDEW waved the white flag on behalf of the Premier League as he claimed: “Chelsea look unbeatable.”

Crystal Palace can end Antonio Conte’s ten-game winning streak at Selhurst Park at lunchtime today.

But the Eagles chief suggested he did not see anybody stopping the relentless Blues.

Keep up to date with ALL the Chelsea news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary

And Pardew said: “Antonio’s done a fabulous job, the system suits them, and at the moment they look unbeatable. It’s a system he knows very well. He’s coached that system so he’s got it pretty nailed down.

“But they’ve still got world-class players. The manager’s done a great job but the world-class players are at the top of their game. And the best thing he’s done is not the system — he’s man-managed those people to perform better.

“Eden Hazard and Diego Costa are a different proposition this year, and they’ll be the first to admit that, Cesc Fabregas too.

“Coming from Serie A, it’s a different type of football and he’s got to grips with the toughness of the Premier League, and the physicality of it. He inherited players that were used to it and he’s been helped by that.

“The form they’re in is probably as good as any Chelsea team in the Premier League. I can’t remember too many times when a team has won ten league games on the trot.

“Although I do vaguely remember Manchester United winning their first 11 games in the mid-80s and not winning the league. So it doesn’t mean that this period is going to get them the title.

“If you lose momentum, it just takes one game. It might be a sending-off, it might be something out of their control. The law of averages says it doesn’t always go your way all the time.”

Despite his praise for Chelsea, Pardew — whose own position will come under question again if Palace slip to their second home defeat in a week — feels  Blues’ title rivals will still have a say.

He added: “Most people would say they have all the qualities of a team that could win the Premier League. But I do look at a couple of the others and think that their competition is as strong as it has ever been in that top group.

“Manchester United were very good the other night. We played to our maximum and still got beat. And Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal — it’s a tough league this year, so Chelsea still have a lot to do.”

Palace have won only one of their last ten games but came close to getting a point against United on Wednesday.

Pardew said: “We’ve got to put in the level of performance that we did against United, and hope things fall our way a bit. That’s the best we can do.

“We don’t have players hiding from the ball, we have players confident to get on it and take the game to Chelsea, but it’s still a tough ask.”