N'Golo Kante: I'm happy playing in a holding midfield role at Chelsea

Vaishali Bhardwaj31 January 2017

N'Golo Kante says he feels he has adapted well to Antonio Conte's 3-4-3 formation, and is "happy" playing as Chelsea's holding midfielder.

The Frenchman has become a regular starter at Chelsea since leaving Premier League champions Leicester for the Blues last summer, with his performances having drawn early comparisons to club legend Claude Makelele.

Kante usually occupies the holding midfield role in Conte's 3-4-3 set-up alongside either Nemanja Matic or Cesc Fabregas.

And the 25-year-old has opened up about how his game has had to change since his move to Chelsea, but says he believes he has adapted well to a new style of play and, indeed, a slightly different role.

"At Leicester, the plan was to stay compact and to go forward with the ball when we counter-attacked," he told Chelsea's official website ahead of the Blues' game with Liverpool this evening.

"At Chelsea we play in a different formation. The way I play here is to protect the back three, to control the balance of the game from midfield, and to find the attacking players in the team with my passing.

"I am happy in this position and with the way I am playing it."

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Liverpool, who host Chelsea in the Premier League on Tuesday night, have lost their last three games in all competitions while the Blues have won their last four.

Kante insists Chelsea must not dwell on Liverpool's poor start to the year because they have the attacking talent to hurt the Blues, as they did in the reverse fixture in September.

"It’s another game, and we must think about ourselves, not their form. Liverpool are a good team who have players capable of scoring at any time," he said.

"They like to press high. If we are able to escape this pressure, we can get in good positions to counter-attack.

"We are first now and we have good confidence, but we know there is a long way to go. We have two very important games this week against two of the closest teams to us. If we manage them well, we can go far."

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