Photo: Chelsea FC

Could this be mere coincidence or is Andreas Christensen truly the rock of Chelsea’s defence? The young Dane went off injured against Bournemouth with the scores goalless and Chelsea pressing for the winner. In his absence, the defence collapsed and three quick goals followed as Gary Cahill took the central position in the backline.

Antonio Conte will be hoping to have the 21-year-old is available for selection tonight after he missed the last two matches with a hamstring strain.

Conte has hailed Christensen’s progress this season, but he doesn’t think the young Dane’s absence was the sole reason for us conceding seven goals in those two games.

“Andreas Christensen, for sure is an important player for us,” the Chelsea manager said.

“It’s right to look at the stats, but we have to take them in the right way. Christensen is playing a fantastic season. I don’t know what happened in the last two games, because it has happened that Christensen didn’t play and we didn’t concede a goal in the past, but in the last two games, we conceded seven goals.”