Gudjohnsen: Next 10 days key for Conte

Antonio Conte's schedule for the next fortnight is not particularly appealing. Firstly, on Tuesday, his team welcome a Barcelona side that is unbeaten in the league this season, and have the difficult task of containing Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez for 90 minutes.

Then, on Sunday, he will travel to Old Trafford in an attempt to close the three point gap that separates Chelsea from their ex-manager Jose Mourinho's side. United are famously hard to break down when facing bigger sides, and have only lost once at home this season.

The following Sunday he will travel north once again, this time to United's noisy neighbours at the Ethiad, in what is an even more daunting task. City have won 13 of their 14 home games, and score an average of 3.57 goals per game at the Ethiad. 

It could be argued that all three games are must-win for Conte. With Tottenham only one point behind Chelsea in fifth, any points dropped in the league could lead Chelsea chasing their rivals for a top four spot, with the season coming towards its final stretch. Furthermore, with the likelihood of anyone catching Man City in the title race at almost zero, the Champions League is Conte's best shot at redeeming his disappointing season, therefore winning the home leg of the round of 16 tie against Barcelona is of vital importance if his side are to have any hope of progressing. 

Ex-Barcelona and Chelsea player Eidur Gudjohnsen believes that this next 10 days will either make or break Conte. Speaking on the 'Sky Sports' show 'The Debate', the former Iceland forward stated: "When you are manager of Chelsea, you are always going to be under pressure.

"But he is under slightly more pressure than he would like to be because recent results have not been good enough.

"Performances have not been good enough - yes they got the win the other night (against Hull City in the FA Cup) - but these next 10 days will tell us a lot about his future."

However, Gudjohnsen doesn't believe the Barca clash will be as one-sided as some are making out. "If you look at the league form, it would have to be Barcelona (as favourites), but I am not convinced because I do not think Barca have come up against a team like Chelsea," he argued. 

"I honestly think this game might suit Chelsea well because it is not a game they have to dominate because they have speed going forward, they have [Eden] Hazard who can create something out of nothing, they have Willian, who feeds off Hazard and they feed very well off each other."

It remains to be seen how Chelsea will fare in these three big fixtures, but what's for certain is that this is a huge fortnight for Antonio Conte.