Eden Hazard and Co take to the skies as Chelsea choose to fly their stars to Leicester ahead of Saturday's game... despite just a 100 mile trip
- Chelsea have flown to Leicester ahead of Saturday's match at the King Power
- Just 103 miles separate Stamford Bridge from Leicester's King Power Stadium
- The fastest route by car between the two stadiums can take under three hours
- Eden Hazard is in contention to make his first Chelsea appearance of the season
Chelsea's stars enjoyed a brief flight on Friday as the club took the unusual step of travelling to their away game at Leicester via aeroplane.
Eden Hazard, Michy Batshuayi, Victor Moses and Co posed for photos on board the chartered jet as the squad prepared for take-off.
Marcos Alonso joked around with reserve goalkeeper Willy Caballero out on the runway while the squad shared a joke at Moses' expense.
Michy Batshuayi poses with Eden Hazard on board Chelsea's flight to Leicester on Friday
Wing back Victor Moses was jokingly branded 'Mr Nigeria' by his Chelsea team-mates
Chelsea have chosen to fly to Leicester ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash - despite just 103 miles separating Stamford Bridge and the King Power Stadium.
A car journey from Chelsea to Leicester using the M1 motorway can take just two hours and 44 minutes when avoiding rush hour.
Flights are usually reserved for longer away trips, such as from London to Newcastle, but complications in travel arrangements mean teams occasionally fly shorter distances.
Arsene Wenger was forced to defend Arsenal's decision to charter a private jet for an away game at Norwich in 2012 after it was branded 'absurd' by Green campaigners.
Chelsea have chosen to fly the 102 miles between Stamford Bridge and the King Power
Willy Caballero and Marcos Alonso were shown joking around on the runway before the flight
Hazard could make his first Chelsea appearance of the season after recovering from injury
Wenger explained his squad were flying the 120 miles from the Emirates to Carrow Road because there were no trains available at that time from London to Norwich.
Chelsea are set to welcome Hazard back into the fold with the Belgian in contention to feature for his club for the first time this season.
Hazard played twice for Belgium over the international break and has been training with the Chelsea first team after recovering from a fractured ankle suffered in June.
His availability means Antonio Conte has a full squad to choose from for the Leicester clash - with new signings Danny Drinkwater and Davide Zappacosta in contention to make their Chelsea debuts.
Drinkwater will be facing his old Leicester team-mates on Saturday, just over a week after leaving the Foxes for Chelsea for £30million on deadline day.
Danny Drinkwater could feature against Leicester just over a week after leaving the Foxes
Davide Zappacosta is also in line to make his Chelsea debut after joining from Torino
Most watched Sport videos
- Chiefs player Justin Reid talks about how he met Taylor Swift
- Luis Diaz's dad shows off his moves at Colombia national game
- England prepare for international friendly against Belgium
- Fake clip claiming to show Swift and Kelce falling off a swing
- Heartwarming moment NY Red Bulls players give their coats to mascots
- New York Jets star Sauce Gardner claims Jewish people 'run the world'
- England manager Sarina Wiegman slams coach-player relationships
- Kobbie Mainoo reveals his 'Man Utd' nickname
- David Seaman recalls to 'THAT' Ronaldinho free-kick
- Manchester United could be BARRED from European football
- Endrick commands attention following Brazil v England friendly
- Travis and Jason Kelce CLASH over who would win a drinking contest