CHELSEA MAY PLAY ARSENAL WITH NO STRIKER

Champions-elect Chelsea may have to go into Sunday’s top of the table showdown against Arsenal at the Emirates without their three main strikers.

Spain striker Diego Costa has only just returned to training after missing two games with a recurring hamstring injury while a calf strain sidelined France forward Loic Remy for last Saturday’s 1-0 win over Manchester United.

Didier Drogba featured against United but sustained an ankle injury that kept him out of Monday night’s 12th Match Against Poverty, a game in St Etienne dedicated to the victims of the Ebola epidemic in Africa.

“Disappointed not to be able to play the #MAP2015 because of an ankle injury but still supporting #EbolaResponse,” said the 37-year-old Ivory Coast forward on his Twitter account.

Chelsea go into Sunday’s game holding a 10-point lead over second-placed Arsenal and manager Jose Mourinho may have to thrust one of his young strikers into the fray.

Dominic Solanke, 17, was on the bench against United and could be promoted to the starting line-up while former West Bromwich Albion forward Isaiah Brown, 18, is another option for Mourinho.

Costa is the third highest scorer in the league this season, his first at Chelsea, with 19 goals.

Remy has been his main understudy and grabbed important goals in the 3-2 victory at Hull City on March 22 and in the 2-1 win over Stoke City on April 4.