Chelsea v. Watford Preview  (Sky Sports)

Striker Diego Costa and forward Eden Hazard are among the front-line Chelsea players who could be rotated out of the starting XI for Sunday's FA Cup third-round tie against Watford at Stamford Bridge.

Petr Cech could replace Thibaut Courtois in goal, depending on the severity of the latter's finger injury, while Oscar, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic could also be afforded a rest.

Blues manager Jose Mourinho will aim to balance fielding a side to advance with one which gives his players a rest after an arduous festive fixture schedule which culminated in Thursday's 5-3 defeat at Tottenham.

Watford will have to make at least one change as midfielder Adlene Guedioura has returned to Crystal Palace at the end of his loan spell.

Centre-back Sebastien Bassong, who missed Sunday's 4-2 Sky Bet Championship win at Cardiff due to a dead leg, is ineligible to feature under the terms of his loan deal from Norwich.

Fellow defenders Joel Ekstrand (back) and Gabriel Tamas (cruciate) are still on the sidelines, but strikers Troy Deeney and Matej Vydra could return to the starting line-up.