Costa Charged by FA

The FA have this evening confirmed that Diego Costa has been charged with violent conduct as a result of his behavior during last night’s cup semi-final win over Liverpool. Chelsea’s summer signing was involved in a couple of stamping altercations, first with Emre Can and then later with Martin Skrtel, but both incidents were missed by the match officials at the time.

Upon revision, the referee has conceded that Costa would have received his marching orders had he witnessed the Can flashpoint, though the FA have confirmed they will not pursue the Skrtel incident. The player has until 6pm tomorrow evening to appeal the decision and, if found guilty, he’s set to serve a three-match ban. Comparisons have been made to a ban that Mario Balotelli received in 2012 when a four-match suspension was dished out for a similar incident. This, however, was due to the striker already seeing red earlier that season for City at Liverpool.

A potential three-match ban would see Costa miss Saturday evening’s vital home encounter against City – a match which could take Jose Mourinho’s men eight points clear of the defending champions at the summit. He would also sit out the following two league matches against Villa and Everton before returning to contention in time for the Gameweek 26 plum home clash against Burnley.

It’s fair to say that a possible ban would have massive repercussions right across the Fantasy games, all the more so in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) where, with an ownership in excess of 60%, Costa is the most popular player. In a week that has also seen Gylfi Sigurdsson banned for a trio of league outings, an unfavourable outcome may persuade many to hit the winter Wildcard button and restructure.

As mentioned in this morning’s Scout Notes, though, Chelsea could yet have a double Gameweek 28 if Leicester – their previously scheduled opponents for Gameweek 27 – are knocked out of the FA Cup by Villa midway through next month. This would free up both clubs for the weekend of March 7-8, as the Blues are also no longer in the latter competition after their shock home loss to Bradford.

With Sergio Aguero back to full fitness and Daniel Sturridge expected to return for Liverpool this weekend, our premium-priced alternatives are on the rise, whilst over at the Bridge, Didier Drogba and Loic Remy are set to do battle for the role of lone striker in Jose Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1.