The Blues had to cope without their star man since Costa ruled out with a hamstring injury suffered on international duty. This brought up the inevitable questions whether Chelsea will be able to win without the Spain international.

The 26-year-old has started his Chelsea career like a house on fire with nine league goals in just seven appearances. Chelsea finally have a goal scorer in their ranks and are already looking favourites for the title.

However, they arguably rely too much on Costa but they proved they are not a one-man team with a comfortable victory over Crystal Palace, the same team who ended their quest for the title last season. They also pulled off an impressive 6-0 thumping of Maribor in the Champions League last night which was achieved without Costa as Drogba scored once playing about 70 minutes after replacing Remy who hurt himself while scoring. Neither Costa or Remy are expected to be fit for the weekend so Drogba may be the only fit striker for the Blues.

Many predicted that Crystal Palace away could prove to be a potential banana-skin but Chelsea were very worthy of the three points. It can only be bad omens for the rest of the Premier League teams that Chelsea can win without their premier forward and that a certain Didier Drogba is looking pretty sharp – not a bad option to turn to for the trip to Old Trafford.

Cesc Fabregas was instrumental in both games and is really the missing piece in Mourinho’s jigsaw. The former Gunner pulled the strings in midfield and scored a superb second vs Palace which ultimately proved to be the winner and he will surely have a big part to play against United.

Which player among Cesc Fabregas or Diego Costa do you feel is Chelsea’s most valuable player?