EPL 2017/18: Five reasons why Chelsea will finish outside the top four

#3 A proper replacement for Costa?

Diego Costa will be missed

Diego Costa is one of those players in world football who are very difficult to replace and imitate. The presence he brings is something not many can replicate. The goals he scores are indispensable.

Alvaro Morata has already scored once and while his abilities are undoubted, the former Real Madrid star isn’t the kind of striker that Costa his. He isn’t as proficient on the break as Costa is and his failures to do the job that the former Atletico Madrid man would have done were evident in the game against Tottenham.

Costa’s threatening presence means opposition defenders are always on their toes and they are always riled up by Morata’s Spanish teammate. Morata doesn’t have that fearsome presence, no matter how good he is.