Chelsea will be without two key players when they face Bournemouth on Boxing Day at Stamford Bridge. The Blues will be looking to extend their impressive winning run to Premier League games on Monday.
The London club have not dropped a point since the defeat at Arsenal back in September and a win over Eddie Howe’s men will set a new club record, having matched the current club record of 11 consecutive wins with the win over Crystal Palace last weekend.
Both Diego Costa and N’Golo Kante will not be available for the match due to suspensions. Costa picked his fifth yellow card of the season against Palace and will serve a one-match ban alongside the French midfielder. Their absence is not expected to weaken the team.
Costa has been incredible in attack for the Blues, scoring one-third of their goals in the league this season. While Kante’s presence in the midfield has helped in shielding the back four as they have only conceded two goals in their last 11 games.
The Cherries have defeated Liverpool and Champions Leicester City in recent weeks and will be hoping to end the Blues unbeaten run.
Antonio Conte has no fresh injury concerns and he has an almost full squad at his disposal. Eden Hazard returned to the starting line-up last weekend after recovering from a minor injury. Conte can turn to Belgian forward Michy Batshuayi in the absence of Costa. Cesc Fabgregas is expected to partner Nemanja Matic in the midfield.
Chelsea loanee Nathan Ake who has been impressive for Bournemouth is ineligible to face his parent club accroding to the Premier League rules.
Chelsea Probable Starting Line-up
Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Fabregas, Matic, Alonso; Pedro, Hazard, Batshuayi.