Eleven wins in a row - Chelsea are the Christmas No.1 and look simply unstoppable

The Blues are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table after a stunning winning run, sending out a huge warning to their title rivals.

Diego Costa's 44th-minute goal ensured that Chelsea would remain in control as Antonio Conte's side sent out an early message ahead of matchday 17 in the Premier League.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City are gazing up at the Blues as the standard setters in the league with Costa setting the benchmark for his team with another outstanding display at Selhurst Park.

Costa can win games in an instant, peeling away to the far post after Cesar Azpilicueta got his head up and picked out a perfectly lofted ball for him to nod home past Wayne Hennessey - notching his 50th goal for the club and he will undoubtedly be the leading scorer come Christmas.

He will miss Chelsea's Boxing Day game after getting booked for dissent, but Conte has found a way to rotate Hazard out of the team and seems to be able to handle any challenge that is thrown at his side.

Conte has masterminded Chelsea's joint-best winning run and has been in charge for less than six months, transforming a club that was in disarray last season and who sacked Jose Mourinho just before Christmas.


All Chelsea's players deserved from Santa Claus last season was a lump of coal, but with the players' Christmas party on the horizon, they deserve and can afford to treat themselves after completely changing the mood around Stamford Bridge.