Huddersfield Town 1-3 Chelsea: 5 Talking Points 

Defending champions Chelsea bounced back from the weekend's derby loss to West Ham United with a convincing away victory against Huddersfield Town.

Goals from Tiemoue Bakayoko, Willian and Pedro were sufficient to hand Antonio Conte's men all three points. Laurent Depoitre scored from a fine header for the hosts in injury-time, but it was a mere consolation.

Here are the major talking points from the game:

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#5 Willian stars in low-key affair

Willian proved his worth

Following a tough week, where a surprise defeat at relegation-threatened West Ham was followed by the UEFA Champions League draw, which will see them face Barcelona in the round of 16, the mood at Chelsea would only have improved with a professional performance at the John Smith's Stadium.

The defending champions dominated for large periods of the game and effectively settled the contest when Pedro rifled home their third in the 50th minute.

The chief orchestrator of an impressive Blues' display was Willian. The Brazilian, who has struggled to rubberstamp his place in the first team, was involved in all three goals and put in an excellent performance in an attacking midfield role.

He drove at the Huddersfield defenders and split them apart with inch-perfect passes. He literally finished off the newly promoted outfit within the hour to bag all three points. Conte may well be tempted to retain him in the first XI at the probable expense of Cesc Fabregas when they host Southampton over the weekend.

#4 Terriers lack incision

Huddersfield failed to create any clear-cut chance

Although Chelsea must be given credit for a swift response to their West Ham debacle, they were largely helped by a non-performance from Huddersfield which has condemned them to their fifth defeat in six league games.

David Wagner's side looked a mere shadow of the team that put in such a massive performance to beat Manchester United in October. The defending - barring goalkeeper Jonas Lossl's unfortunate slip to let Bakayoko through for the first goal - was terrible at times, giving Willian the freedom of the penalty area and leaving Pedro unmarked for the third goal.

On the other side of the pitch, Steve Mounie was unable to capitalise on his brace during Saturday's victory over fellow-promoted Brighton, barely receiving any service from his colleagues at full-back and attacking midfield.

He was also unable to get in behind an organised Chelsea back three. There was no incision in their play that was needed to outsmart the defence of the reigning champions. It was only after the contest was effectively ended around the hour mark and Chelsea had eased off that the hosts began to show some fight.

Depoitre scored from a thumping header in injury-time but that was required around 50 minutes earlier than they eventually broke Chelsea down. Ultimately, It was a night to forget for the Terriers.

#3 Chelsea shrug off concerns of fatigue

Conte had blamed fatigue for recent results

Antonio Conte has made his displeasure at the match scheduling for his side known, alleging that there was a 'conspiracy' against his side when it came to choosing the fixture dates. He blamed fatigue for Chelsea's recently inconsistent results, which included failure in topping their UEFA Champions League group and the recent defeat to West Ham in the league.

However, there was hardly any sign of tiredness in the Chelsea camp on Tuesday - three days after the Wesf Ham loss - as they easily brushed aside Huddersfield to get back on track.

Willian and Pedro made the most of the opportunity given to them with excellent performances, while wingbacks Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso dominated their respective flanks, especially when pressing forward.

The three-goal cushion afforded Conte the luxury of giving his benchwarmers a run-out, with Danny Drinkwater and Michy Batshuayi getting game time. If there was any presence of collective fatigue within the Chelsea camp, they sure didn't show it.

#2 Wet conditions undo Huddersfield Town

Jonas Lossl(in green) was a victim of the playing conditions

Though Huddersfield played levels below what they are capable of producing, the conditions did them no favours either. It was a cold and wet Tuesday night, and the swift ball movement owing to the fizz off the pitch played right into Chelsea's hands.

The hosts were unable to cope with the defending champions' quickfire passing across the pitch and left the Terriers chasing the game almost in entirety.

To aggravate matters, Huddersfield's resistance was broken thanks to the slippery conditions, as goalkeeper Jonas Lossl lost his bearings while attempting to deal with Willian's ball to Tiemoue Bakayoko.

That incident took him out of the equation, allowing the former Monaco midfielder to easily slot home and set the visitors on their way. It was the same story throughout the course of the game, with Chelsea dominating proceedings with some fine ground passing.

#1 Huddersfield need to bounce back in upcoming winnable fixtures

David Wagner has many issues to sort out before crucial fixtures

Nobody - not even the most optimistic fan - really expected the Terriers to get anything out of this game, as Chelsea's quality and the dire need of a resounding response after an unexpected defeat was enough to bust their chances.

However, the hosts were poor anyway, only mustering two shots on target, conceding 64% possession and finding themselves guilty of 11 fouls. David Wagner will demand a response - both defensively and offensively - when his side face the likes of Watford, Stoke and West Ham next.

While Stoke and West Ham are direct relegation rivals, Watford's defence has a tendency to implode in the late stages, as was evident when they managed to lose to Crystal Palace despite being 1-0 up until the 89th minute. All three are winnable fixtures, but Huddersfield must improve if they are force a turnaround from 5 defeats in their last six games.

The fullbacks Tommy Smith and Chris Lowe need to show a little more intensity by going upfront as they often tend to resort to defensive measures. The quality of their crosses for the likes of Steve Mounie and Laurent Depoitre needs to improve, as service to the forwards is clearly lacking at the moment.

Giving a chance to winger Rajiv van la Parra, who has completed a ban, wouldn't do them half bad, as he has the pace as well as the individual skill to annoy opponents and create a potential goal-scoring chance.

After a promising start, Huddersfield are slowly being sucked into a relegation battle and the upcoming games could be crucial in deciding their ultimate fate when May arrives.