Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho expects 19-goal hero Diego Costa to miss the Blues’ crucial upcoming encounters with Manchester United and Arsenal, but he will not protect Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic, who are both suspension risks for the same fixtures.

He addressed Costa’s latest injury during the press conference prior to Sunday’s match with Queens Park Rangers, as reported by Chelsea’s official Twitter feed:

This means Costa is likely to miss matches against United, Arsenal and Leicester City, but he should be available to face Crystal Palace on May 3.

Mourinho confirmed Fabregas has sufficiently recovered from his recent nose injury to start. Interestingly, the Portuguese boss isn’t willing to rest the Spaniard or Matic, despite them both being one caution away from a two-game ban:

Should Cesc or Matic pick up a yellow card against QPR, they will miss the United and Arsenal games. At a crucial time of the season, Mourinho can ill afford to lose the engine room of his team.

Chelsea face a seemingly simple task to capture the Premier League trophy from their current position. They are seven points clear of Arsenal with a game in hand, having last lost in the division on New Year’s Day.

QPR are fighting for Premier League survival and are currently two points from safety; however, 17th-placed Hull City have an extra game and could stretch the gap to five. Manager Chris Ramsey has led QPR to four valuable points in their last two matches, thrashing West Bromwich Albion 4-1 and drawing 3-3 with Aston Villa to give them hope.

Mourinho is expecting a tough game, perhaps led by the home crowd’s inspiration:

He also believes Chelsea’s temperament and resiliency throughout the season defines their success:

The Blues are likely to start with former QPR striker Loic Remy in Costa’s place, adding an intriguing subplot to a fixture which could have huge consequences at both ends of the table. Costa’s repeated absences could force Chelsea into landing further goalscoring power next season, perhaps in the form of Inter Milan striker Mauro Icardi, as recently discussed by B/R UK’s Ryan Bailey and Matteo Bonetti:

QPR have netted seven in two matches, led by the clinical Charlie Austin, and he will be confident of posing a real threat to the champions elect.

Mourinho‘s men remain heavy favourites, but they will undoubtedly be on upset alert once kick-off arrives.

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