Hazard played centrally, with Pedro and Willian either side, when Costa was suspended for the Boxing Day win over Bournemouth, and it looks like Conte has turned to the same players again at the King Power Stadium.
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Diego Costa has been left out of Chelsea’s squad for the meeting with Leicester City. The gap to Jurgen Klopp’s team following Saturday’s big win sits at eight points.
Costa was warned not to repeat that behaviour and it seems Conte is now considering taking action after this week’s fall-out.
Despite previous flashpoints under Conte this season, Costa’s behaviour had improved markedly until the latest incident.
Chelsea responded to a testing last 24 hours with an emphatic win over champions Leicester.
Chelsea are [1.66] and that’s what they should be.
“I hope our fans give to Kante a warm welcome as he was our champion”.
Both teams showed caution in the opening 45 minutes when matched nearly man-for-man by similar formations, though only Chelsea found fluency. We may not have much choice, unless Conte has suddenly become convinced by Batshuayi. An away trip to Spurs is just about the hardest fixture in Premier League football at the moment (bar an away trip to Stamford Bridge) so it’s best to put that down as a minor blip than to suggest it’s the start of any sort of slide.
After Gary Cahill saw an impressive attempt at a bicycle kick blocked by Morgan, Alonso came close to his hat-trick when he fired wide with a well-struck volley from Moses’ cross.
Costa’s contract runs until June 2019 and while Chelsea were reportedly keen to tie down their star striker to an extension prior to the recent dispute, there is a determination among the club hierarchy to hold him to the remainder of his current deal if he attempts to force an exit to China.
UK: TV: BT Sport 1.
How Chelsea might learn to live without a player who had scored 14 goals in 19 matches was the key plot line before kick-off. Which Premier League side do you suspect placed the bid?
For my club, for my players, we solve our problem if there are problems.
He appeared to have overcome his fitness and disciplinary issues under Conte, with whom his relationship appeared strong.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich would resist Costa agitating for a move. They’re now also without Daniel Amartey, also way on ACON duty though they’ve brought in Wilfred Ndidi from Genk for £17m.
Jamie Vardy is available after shaking off a minor knock but Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani and Daniel Amartey are at the Africa Cup of Nations.
“We closed all the space and in the middle with the 5-3-2 it was good”.
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“They lost to Tottenham after 13 – awesome achievement”, Ranieri said of Chelsea. He even got so far forward as to get on the end of Leicester’s first real chance, a cross that he headed wide. Two seasons ago they were in a battle against relegation and they survived.
