Morata return boosts spluttering Chelsea

LONDON: Alvaro Morata’s return will be welcomed by Antonio Conte but the Chelsea manager knows his side face Brighton at Stamford Bridge with their Premier League title defence all but over. Morata was forced to sit out the visit to Everton on Saturday while he served a one-match suspension and in his absence, the Blues lacked the firepower to break down Sam Allardyce’s side in a goalless draw. That led to Conte being forced to defend his decision not to replace the Spaniard with a conventional target man.

Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was among those who appeared to question Conte’s approach after a result that, combined with Manchester City’s defeat of Bournemouth, left them 16 points behind the leaders at the halfway stage of the season. “I think we could have had more shots on target but we didn’t have a big guy up front despite lots of crosses into the box,” said Courtois, after a game in which Chelsea failed to turn their territorial dominance into goals. The onus will again be on third placed Chelsea to take the initiative against a Brighton side who ended a run of seven games without a win with a timely victory over Watford.

Morata’s return will undoubtedly help, but Conte’s decision to overlook Michy Batshuayi until late in the game at Everton will be taken as another indicator of the coach’s lack of trust in the Belgium international.

Forward reinforcements will clearly be at the top of Conte’s wish-list for the January transfer window, with Chelsea still involved in three over competitions, even if their Premier League challenge has been reduced to ensuring a top four finish. Testing campaign - Conte had predicted this would be a testing campaign even before the start of the season because of the club’s return to European football.

And the evidence of the opening half of the campaign has justified Conte’s standpoint, even if his side have shown flashes of the outstanding form that took them to the title last year.