Antonio Conte‘s job is on the line against Watford on Monday night with Chelsea’s board said to be considering sacking the Italian if the Blues lost at Vicarage Road, Metro UK reports.
Chelsea trail league leaders Manchester City by 21 points and have provided a meek defence of their Premier League crown this term.
The Blues are through to the last-16 of the Champions League but are underdogs against Barcelona, while a semi-final League Cup defeat to Arsenal particularly irked the Chelsea board.
Conte has consistently criticised the club’s transfer policy since moving to Stamford Bridge in 2016 and owner Roman Abramovich is said to be lining up Luis Enrique to take over in west London.
Chelsea travel to Watford on Monday night and need a win to leapfrog Liverpool into third place. If the Blues lose, Conte could be sacked, according to the Express.
The club’s 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth last Wednesday showed worrying signs that the dressing room no longer back Conte.
Meanwhile, Conte has called for public backing from Chelsea in order to silence speculation about his future as head coach, according to SkySports.
The coach who last week denied reports linking him to the Italy job, expressed his desire to honour the remaining 18 months of his contract.
He would now like a public vote of confidence from his employers to help silence talk of him departing Stamford Bridge.
“Maybe I’d like that the club to prepare a statement for me to tell [the media], ‘I trust in his job, I trust in his work’,” said Conte, ahead of Monday’s trip to Watford.
“But at the same time I know that in the past it never happened, this, and for this reason why would I hope for something different? For sure, I think that I’d like to have a statement to support against this speculation.”
Chelsea travel to Vicarage Road 19 points adrift of runaway leaders Manchester City following last Wednesday’s humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth
They face a tricky two-legged tie against La Liga leaders Barcelona in the second round of the Champions League, while Hull are their fifth-round opponents in the FA Cup.
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