3 key battles as Chelsea host Middlesbrough in the Premier League this evening

Eden Hazard vs Fabio

If Middlesbrough are to get anything from this evening’s game, they will have to find a way of keeping Chelsea’s Eden Hazard quiet.

The 26-year-old has been at his sparkling best for the majority of this campaign, netting 15 goals and laying on five assists in 32 Premier League games to help Conte’s side close in on a fifth title in 12 years.

The Belgian forward has at times produced form better than that we saw in the 2014/15 campaign, in which he won the PFA Player of the Year award and indeed the title under Jose Mourinho, and if he is near that level again tonight, Middlesbrough’s Fabio will be in for a long evening.

The 26-year-old played the full 90 minutes in their 2-2 draw with Manchester City last weekend and did reasonably well, but overall it has been an average season for the former Manchester United defender, who has started just 18 of their 35 league matches this term.

And with three yellow cards in his last five Premier League appearances, Hazard will certainly target Fabio down that Chelsea left, be it by cutting inside or by taking him on out wide, which makes it imperative that the right-sided centre back, likely to be Calum Chambers, provides his teammate with adequate help to stop the Chelsea man.

Ultimately, Hazard is a match-winner, and given that Boro cannot afford to lose, Fabio will have to be at his very best to thwart the Belgian this evening.