In their first game after the International break, Chelsea travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace, who are still looking for their first Premier League point this season.
Going into this tie, Antonio Conte will be missing out on the services of arguably his two best performing players so far this season, N’Golo Kante and Alvaro Morata. He will however, be glad to welcome back David Luiz back into the starting XI, now that the Brazilian has served his suspension.
The aforementioned duo are currently accompanying Danny Drinkwater on the treatment table. In his pre-match press conference, Conte lamented the loss of the Frenchman, insisting that he did not have another player with the same kind of characteristics.
He said,”We are going to do a scan next week to check his situation to see if he is improving. For sure it is a muscular problem, a hamstring problem. This is a big loss for us. You know very well the importance of N’Golo Kante in our team.”
The Italian went on to say that the previous scan indicated that Kante could possibly return in 20-25 days, but they were treating the situation with the utmost care and will be taking further scans in a week’s time, so as to be absolutely sure and look for any signs of improvement.
While it may take some more time for Drinkwater to make his Chelsea debut, Alvaro Morata’s return might not be too far away. Speaking about the Spaniard’s current situation, Conte said,”I hope to have him back very soon, for the next game against Roma.”
The Blues have 6 games to play in October, including two Champions League against Roma. They will undoubtedly need all of their players fit and firing. But, Crystal Palace in their current form shouldn’t prove to be too much of a problem, especially with the quality in the squad.
To make things even easier for Chelsea, the Eagles will be without Chelsea loanee Ruben-Loftus Cheek, who has been their best player so far this season. Conte hinted in his that he might consider giving youngsters a chance to show what they’ve got. So we may see the likes of Charly Musonda and Kyle Scott getting a rare opportunity at Selhurst Park tonight.