Chelsea sit three points behind league leaders Manchester United and Man City (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte insists it is ‘normal’ for Manchester United and Man City to be at the top of the Premier League table but says anything can happen before the end of the season.

The Manchester rivals boast identical records after five games, each taking 13 points from their unbeaten starts to the new campaign and scoring an impressive 16 goals.

A number of pundits have predicted a two-horse race for the title this season, despite reigning champions Chelsea trailing by just three points.

And asked about his title rivals, Conte said: ‘You know very well that, in England, there are six top teams. Manchester’s teams are in these six teams. It’s normal.

The Blues are unbeaten since the opening day of the season (Picture: Getty)

‘It’s normal for United and City to be competitive and to fight for the title and the other competitions. It’s normal.

‘My idea of football is to be a team, and then the team try to extract the characteristics of the individual players.

‘Now we are recovering Hazard after a bad injury, and recovering Pedro after a bad start to the season with injuries. We’re trying to face difficult situations, bad situations – Cahill three games of suspension, and now David Luiz.

‘When you are a team, you can face this type of situation in the right way. I’m sure about this. But now it’s not important. We have to stay there and try and do our best. At the end of the season, we’ll see what happens.’

Manchester United have made a superb start to the season (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea suffered a surprising defeat to Burnley on the opening day of the season but have since impressed, winning three of their four games.

The Blues failed to find their best form against London rivals Arsenal on Saturday as Arsene Wenger’s side left Stamford Bridge with a hard-fought point.

But Conte’s side will be expected to dazzle when they face Championship side Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, despite the manager preparing to make some significant changes.

Former Exeter star Ethan Ampadu could feature on Chelsea’s bench (Picture: Getty)

The Guardian say Chelsea will field an all-Belgian frontline with Eden Hazard starting alongside Michy Batshuayi and Charly Musonda.

Ethan Ampadu, the teenage midfielder who signed from Exeter during the summer, may also feature on the bench for the Premier League champions.

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