Chelsea made it ten wins in a row in the Premier League courtesy of a narrow 1-0 success over Sunderland on Wednesday.

Cesc Fabregas scored what turned out to be the winner five minutes before half time with a fine finish, but the Blues did have goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to thank for making a terrific save to prevent Patrick van Aanholt from rescuing a point for David Moyes’ side.

The Blues have now recorded back-to-back 1-0 victories in the Premier League, using their champion-like qualities to twice get over the line, which is an ominous sign to the rest of the division.

Their victory at the Stadium of Light moved them six points clear in the title race, with Liverpool their nearest challengers after they won 3-0 at Middlesbrough to leapfrog Arsenal into second.

Nonetheless, it’s Chelsea, who have conceded just two goals in their ten-match winning run, who look like the team to beat this season, with the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham, and Manchester City all beaten by the Blues in recent times.

Stamford Bridge appears to be a fortress we all saw in the Jose Mourinho era, but the Blues also know how to win away from home, winning six of their eight league matches thus far, so it’s difficult to see where teams will hurt Conte’s men.

So, with Christmas approaching and the halfway point of the season almost upon us, we thought we’d evaluate Chelsea’s season thus far…

PRO – Ten straight league wins

Chelsea have been simply sensational since the start of October.

Conte’s men have won ten successive Premier League games to shoot from eighth in the division on September 24 to six points clear at the top as of today.

The first six victories were all accompanied by a clean sheet, which included brilliant home wins over Manchester United and Everton, and then they became the first team to beat Tottenham in the league, and then followed that up with victory at the Etihad Stadium against Manchester City.

They have shown champion-like qualities in their last two games, narrowly beating Sunderland and West Brom 1-0, and someone is going to have to play unbelievably well to beat the Blues at present.

CON – Shaky start

It seems like quite a long time ago now, but Chelsea did suffer successive defeats at home to Liverpool and then away at Arsenal in September.

Conte’s men won their first three games of the season before drawing 2-2 at Swansea, and after that Liverpool produced a fine display to win at Stamford Bridge, before Arsenal simply blew the Blues away at the Emirates on September 24.

The result left Chelsea eighth in the table, eight points behind leaders Manchester City, and it even increased speculation about Conte’s job security, with some reporting that the Italian was on the verge of losing his job back in September.

How things have changed!

PRO – Top of the league

Top of the league, ten wins in a row, two goals conceded in that time – it’s all going well at Stamford Bridge at the moment.

The Blues look by a country mile the best side in the division at present, with the likes of Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham, and Manchester City all succumbing to Conte’s side in recent months.

They have been installed as title favourites and, sitting six points clear of Liverpool and Arsenal, they are well on their way to reclaiming the Premier League title from Leicester come May.

Player of the Season – Diego Costa

Chelsea have been brilliant in the last few weeks, and it’s not easy singling someone out for their impressive run.

But it’s difficult to look past striker Diego Costa, who has scored 12 goals for the Blues in the league this season.

The Spanish international struggled upfront for the club last season, netting 11 times in the league for the West London side, but has been totally reinvigorated under Conte this time around.

Even when they were going through their tricky spell in September, Costa continued to find the back of the net, netting twice against Swansea and the late consolation at home to Liverpool.

The 28-year-old has only failed to score in five Premier League games this season, and has been the best of an excellent Chelsea side so far this season.