Antonio Conte’s Chelsea are third in the Premier League (Picture: Getty)

Dennis Wise believes Antonio Conte’s decision to sell Diego Costa has affected Chelsea’s title defence.

The Blues won the Premier League by seven points last term in Conte’s debut season in England. After 19 games of the current campaign, however, Chelsea are third behind Manchester United and leaders Man City.

Chelsea dropped points again at Everton on Sunday as Sam Allardyce’s side continued their revival with a hard-fought 0-0 draw.

Asked why Chelsea have failed to consistently delivery the same level of performance as they did last year, Wise told Sky Sports: ‘[Diego] Costa – a horrible centre-forward who nicks goals.

‘Today you see the three guys [Eden Hazard, Pedro and Willian], they want to come out wide and deep. Costa battles and makes defenders make mistakes.

Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw at Everton on Saturday (Picture: Getty)

‘That’s what Chelsea miss – it might have been different if [Alvaro] Morata played.

‘Someone like a Costa might have got them a goal and it would have been a different game. But you’ve got to give Everton credit, it’s not entertaining but it’s against the champions.’

Chelsea dominated the Premier League clash at Goodison Park but failed to find the breakthrough – Conte said the result was ‘unfair’.

The Blues were unable to break the deadlock at Goodison (Picture: Getty)

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Italian manager said: ‘We had 26 shots, only eight on target. I think we dominated the game and lots of chances to score. I think it is unfair result.

‘Everton deserve credit but we deserve to win. Maybe Jordan Pickford was the best player for them.

‘We dominated the game and it is a pity to drop two points. It is normal to drop points with a poor performance but not today. It is not simple to dominate here, we needed a bit of luck.’

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