Chelsea striker Diego Costa dropped to the bench for Tottenham clash

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 29/11/2015 at 11:27 GMT

Jose Mourinho has surprisingly dropped striker Diego Costa for Chelsea's hotly-anticipated London derby with Tottenham on Sunday.

Ahead of the early kick-off on Sunday, the news emerged that Costa had been dropped with club captain John Terry also confined to the bench.

Costa and Mourinho had a heated row during the midweek win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League.

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“It’s the first time Diego is on the bench unless he was on the bench for some injury, but as an option it is the first time,” Mourinho told BT Sport.

"I think it's also normal. He's playing every match and things are not going really well for his confidence. He is a good player, he is a dangerous player."

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho talks to Diego Costa

Image credit: Reuters

Eden Hazard is understood to be leading the line for the Blues with Oscar, Willian and Pedro in support of the Belgian.

For Tottenham, Erik Lamela was left out of Mauricio Pochettino's starting line-up with England's Harry Kane the lone striker.

[MATCHCAST: TOTTENHAM v CHELSEA: LIVE]

Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Alderweirald, Vertonghen, Rose, Dier, Mason, Dembele, Son, Eriksen, Kane. Subs: Worm, Trippier, Wimmer, Onomah, Carroll, Lamela, Njie.

Chelsea: Begovic; Ivanovic, Zouma, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Matic; Willian, Oscar, Pedro; Hazard. Subs: Amelia, Djilobodji, Baba Rahman, Mikel, Loftus-Cheek, Kenedy, Diego Costa.

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