Chelsea transfer news has been dominated by the Diego Costa saga this month and many fans worried his absence could derail the team’s title bid. But things are looking a lot rosier at Stamford Bridge after he returned to the starting line up to inspire Chelsea to a 2-0 win over Hull and extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points.

Chelsea have benefited enormously so far from the vast piles of cash being injected into the Chinese Super League. It has allowed them to offload fringe players clogging up the squad and wage bill for astronomical sums: £25 million for Ramires and £60 million for Oscar is fantastic business and it will provide Antonio Conte with a magnificent war chest to bolster the squad in the summer and hopefully lead to years of dominance for the Blues over the Premiership.

But it has also become a double edged sword as Chinese interest in star striker Costa seemed to have unsettled him and caused panic among supporters. But Chelsea handled the situation perfectly. Unlike Slaven Bilic discussing Dimitri Payet at West Ham, Conte refused to comment on it, merely mentioning a back strain for Costa.

And then he returned to the side with a match winning performance, scoring the opener against Hull and causing consternation among their defensive ranks throughout with his movement, aggression and general presence.

Chelsea are now eight points clear of second placed Arsenal and the return of Costa couldn’t have come at a better time as the Blues now enter a crucial period that will define their season. First they travel to free scoring Liverpool on Tuesday, then host Arsenal. These two teams have already beaten Chelsea comfortably this season, so it is a great chance for the Blues to prove that they are a different team now that they have switched to three at the back and won 15 of their last 16 games.

That defeat against Tottenham, along with defeats against Arsenal and Liverpool, have left question marks hanging over Chelsea regarding their ability to beat the top sides. They have the perfect opportunity to show they are not just flat track bullies in the next two games. They then travel to Turf Moor, where Burnley have impressed this season, and they would probably be happy with a five-point haul from those three games. Escape from this tricky period with a decent lead at the top and the league title really should be theirs.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool come into the match having been knocked out of both domestic Cup competitions in a matter of 4 days. First losing to Southampton to miss the final of the EFL Cup at Wembley last Wednesday and then on Saturday going down to one of the upsets of round 4 as they lost 2-1 at home to Paul Lambert’s Wolverhampton Wanderers who are 18th in the Championship. So Klopp only has to focus on the Premier League and the 16 remaining games they have left. Just shows that Antonio Conte was wise not to completely change his team and totally rely on too many youngsters. Conte of course was prudent and took a balanced approach and named a balanced side which took care of business comfortably and therefore the result was never in doubt. So Klopp will have Liverpool all fired up and Chelsea will have to be ready for a fast start from Klopp’s side who will be looking to blow Chelsea away early and get the crowd on their side making it a very tough place for Chelsea to play.

There has not been much value to be had in betting on Chelsea of late as they have been such heavy favourites to beat the likes of Hull. But you can make some serious money backing them to win the next couple of games against Liverpool and Arsenal. Before you bet review sportbooks lines like betonline as bookmakers compete to offer you the best odds and win your business and sportsbooks like betonline typically offer the most attractive odds. Chelsea are usually favourites to win their games but they are outsiders against Liverpool and better than evens to beat Arsenal. The way Liverpool have been defending of late should give Chelsea a great chance of beating them, so that looks a very attractive option right now. And Arsenal have been very sluggish recently, only scraping wins or draws courtesy of last gasp goals against poor opposition, so you could hedge your bets on Chelsea winning and on the draw and still make some good money.

We think the game will be a back and forth affair and given the form of both teams in the League in big matches we think there will be a few goals but we think Chelsea will pull off a 3-2 win which may be worth a wager if that is your bag.