Chelsea
will not be able to call on the services of Alvaro Morata or N'Golo Kante
against Crystal Palace on Saturday as both are ruled out with injury.
Kante limped off in the first half of France's 1-0 World Cup qualifying win
over Bulgaria last Saturday and boss Antonio Conte is resigned to being
without him for the rest of October.
"In Kante's situation you have to have another scan to understand the
situation very well," Conte said.
"He is a big loss for us because we know very well the importance of Kante
to our team and we don't have another player with his characteristics."
Danny Drinkwater (calf) and Alvaro Morata (hamstring) will also miss the
trip to Selhurst Park against a Palace side who have not scored or recorded
a point after seven Premier League matches.
Watch a preview of Saturday's Premier League action, featuring Liverpool's
clash with Manchester United at Anfield
Team news
Wilfried Zaha is available for Crystal Palace as he has recovered from a
knee injury suffered against Huddersfield on the opening day of the season.
Hodgson's first-choice goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey faces a late fitness test
on Saturday, having suffered a calf injury on international duty with Wales.
Christian Benteke also remains sidelined with a knee injury.
Chelsea expect to be without midfielder N'Golo Kante for three weeks due to
the hamstring injury he suffered on international duty.
Conte also looks set to be without Danny Drinkwater, who has a calf problem,
and Alvaro Morata (hamstring) picked up against Manchester City on September
30, but initial fears of a long lay-off have receded.
Opta stats
Crystal Palace have won only one of their previous eight Premier League
matches against Chelsea at Selhurst Park (W1 D1 L6), winning 1-0 in March
2014 under Tony Pulis.
Chelsea (421) have won more points in Premier League London derbies than any
other side in the competition's history (P232 W119 D64 L49).
Crystal Palace could become the first team in Football League history to
lose nine consecutive games without scoring - on only three other occasions
have a team lost eight games in a row without scoring and only once in the
top flight (Sunderland between November 1976 and January 1977).
Chelsea have failed to score in two of their last three Premier League
matches under Antonio Conte, as many as in their previous 36. The Blues only
failed to score in three of their 38 league games last season and have
already drawn a blank in two of their seven so far this term.
Cesc Fabregas (49 goals) could become just the third Spanish player to net
50 goals in the Premier League after Diego Costa (52) and Fernando Torres
(85). Fabregas could be the first Spanish midfielder to reach this
milestone.
Paul Merson's prediction
This is a hard game for Chelsea without N'Golo Kante or Alvaro Morata. They
are two massive players and not having them will make a difference.
But Chelsea still have a good defence and Palace don't have Christian
Benteke so it will be hard for them to score. Man City were on fire against
Chelsea and still only scored once, and that was a 'worldie', so that is
what Palace are up against.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-1 (5/1 with Sky Bet)
top