Chelsea’s assault on the Premier League title suffered a major blow this weekend, as a shock defeat to Crystal Palace opened the door for a late charge from their rivals.
The Blues 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge to Palace, accompanied by Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 victory over Burnley, saw the Lilywhites cut the deficit to seven points and Mauricio Pochettino’s side will be hopeful of a late push towards the title.
Chelsea still boast a comfortable advantage but face a huge test in midweek against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, where defeat could open the door for Spurs to cut the deficit to just four points- and spark a major tussle at the end of the campaign.
The Blues may consider the defeat against Crystal Palace to be a wake-up call and fans on social media are calling for a big change this week, as they’re desperate to see misfiring striker Diego Costa dropped amidst his poor form.
Costa has struggled since having his head turned from interest in China during the January transfer window and his decline of form in front of goal has raised question marks as to whether the title race is really over.
With so much to lose, Costa’s form is a problem and many fans want him to be taught a lesson by being dropped in the coming weeks.
If Conte doesn’t want to bottle this then he must drop Costa now. Play Ruben or Batshuayi or even Hazard upfront I don’t care.
— Foreverblue (@ForeverBlue_07) April 1, 2017
If Conte really Is the winner & killer they everyone says he is he’ll drop Costa vs City.
— ?? (@lxwry) April 1, 2017
Drop Costa for a few games and start Michy. I’m confident he’ll do fine, or at least better than how Costa has been doing lately.
— Ꭻ (@KanteleIe) April 1, 2017
Conte should really show some balls and drop Costa for the City game. Costa has taken his place for granted as there’s no competition.
— Foreverblue (@ForeverBlue_07) April 2, 2017
Costa couldn’t do that yesterday, please @ChelseaFC tell conte to drop costa on wednesday
— TK (@TKQHD) April 2, 2017
Conte too scared to drop costa man cba we gonna lose the title because of that
— i (@beardedcesc) April 2, 2017
Hope so but I know he won’t drop costa easily I pray Costa gets injured for the rest of the season https://t.co/4RKwL3YMWM
— Itz_Tj (@Tijjani63527922) April 1, 2017