Chelsea are set to be without Diego Costa in their next match against Bournemouth on Boxing Day.
The Spain International picked in fifth yellow card of the campaign in the game against Crystal Palace and will be suspended when the play against the Cherries in their Boxing Day fixture.
Costa has now been in an impressive form for the Blues this season, scoring 12 goals in 16 games before their clash against Crystal Palace during which he was shown a yellow card for kicking out at Joe Ledley in the first half of the match.
The caution now implies that Antonio Conte will have to go with out of favour Belgian striker, Michy Batshauayi who is yet start a game in the Premier League since he moved there from Marseille in the summer.
Though, Costa had a relatively clean slate under Antonio Conte but a rash yellow card might not be overlooked by the Italian boss who had earlier warned the striker on his behavior problems on the pitch
Meanwhile ahead of their clash against Palace, Conte took time to explain why Pedro did not make the starting eleven, he said: ‘It’s hard to pick my team but it’s normal. I want competition.
‘Pedro played a lot of games. I wanted him to rest.’
A victory for Chelsea will see them go further clear up the Premier League table.
