Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is not fearing the prospect of being without David Luiz against Premier League leaders Manchester City, such is his faith in young centre-back Andreas Christensen.
Brazilian defender Luiz was shown a red card in Chelsea’s goalless draw against Arsenal earlier this month, resulting in a three-game ban the last of which will be served on Saturday.
Although it will be a blow to lose Luiz, Conte believes his understudy, Christensen, has already proven he is capable of stepping into the Chelsea back-line.
‘As you know very well, David is a very important player for us,’ said the Italian coach ahead of Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash with City.
‘For sure he is a big loss for us, but I think that Andreas is playing very well and showing that he is a really good player.
‘He’s a young player with big maturity and really good experience to play with us. I’m happy for his performance.’
As well as being shown a red card against Arsenal, Luiz also gave away a penalty against Atletico Madrid in the midweek Champions League win – a mistake Conte has urged him not to repeat.
He continued: ‘I think that he’s not [that type of] player, it’s not usual to take a red card.
‘David is a good player and he puts always great discipline on the pitch. But I was a player and I understand sometimes this type of situation can happen. Once is OK, but that’s enough.’
Conte confirmed that Alvaro Morata is fit despite wearing an ice pack around his ankle after the game in Madrid, and hinted that Eden Hazard could start, while City will be without Sergio Aguero after he was involved in a car accident.
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