Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte Praises 'Perfect Replacement' for David Luiz ahead of Manchester City Clash
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...