Diego Costa and Chelsea team-mates given full blessing to go on Christmas

Ghana coach Avram Grant has revealed he would have confronted Diego Costa over his antics at White Hart Lane in private.

The most hated striker in the Premier League could be set to become the most hated striker in La Liga once more. Stars like Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Oscar have struggled so much that the club has needed to double-down on its commitment to aging veterans like Gary Cahill and John Terry just to tread water. The Spain striker does at least have three goals from his 23 shots.

The Serbia midfielder sustained a facial injury in the draw at Spurs.

Costa, too, has been a shadow of his former self, but his attacking stats are better.

But despite all the condemnation from fans around the world, the Chelsea manager and fans remained tight lipped about it. They casually shrugged it off as some passionate displays by an aggressive player.

Hazard has now gone 17 league games without finding a goal, a run lasting 1,575 minutes.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been linked with a host of Premier League clubs in recent years and Manchester United are the latest rumoured to be linking up a bid for the Gabon forward. The Belgian headed past Palace’s Julian Speroni after the keeper had saved his initial penalty.

“Last season was great for Chelsea, winning the League title, but now they need to see what is the problem, why are top players not performing like they need to play, why the team is not performing like they need to, and find a solution”.

Bournemouth are one of the few clubs who are below Chelsea in the league and while they may have won on four of their last five league trips to the capital, it is unlikely they will manage to obtain any kind of positive result at Stamford Bridge.