Chelsea's summer signing Alvaro Morata - according to a report published by Daily Mail - successfully returned to full first-team training on Sunday following the club's defeat against Crystal Palace on Saturday at Selhurst Park, a positive step which will prove to be a huge boost to Antonio Conte's striking department. The Spaniard limped out of Chelsea's 1-0 loss at the hands of Manchester City during the first 45-minutes just before the international break, leaving the Blues' attacking ranks relatively thin and with no real domineering threat in-front of the target.

Humbling

Chelsea was dealt a relative blow in terms of retaining the title when they faced Pep Guardiola's rampant City at Stamford Bridge on September 30, where Morata subsequently hobbled off before the interval. The sobering 1-0 defeat exemplified the levels to which the south-west Londoners would have to match, or indeed better, if they're to return to the top of the Premier League tree, despite it being early days in the schedule.

Roy Hodgson's floundering Eagles were remarkably pointless and goalless domestically before kick-off on Saturday afternoon, although come the referee's final whistle the 3 points stayed at Selhurst Park, with Conte's men stuttering haplessly to a 2-1 loss against the top-flight's stragglers thanks to goals from Yohan Cabaye and Wilfried Zaha.

With a formally free-scoring Morata on the turf, perhaps things would have looked a shade more flattering in Chelsea's favour, though hindsight will never truly warrant much justice in relation to their brutally condemning mistakes at Palace, who were tenaciously determined to chalk their first points on the board after a woeful start to the 2017-18 campaign.

Reinforcement

In Morata's absence, the responsibility of steering the ball into the back of the net was left to Belgian international Michy Batshuayi, although filling his teammate's prolific void has proved to be no easy task to fulfil.

The 24-year-old's presence in the attacking third has been questioned since his arrival at the Bridge last summer, and though he has netted twice in the Champions League and three times in the Carabao Cup this season, the former Olympique Marseille hit-man has failed to score in the Premier League.

Now that a somewhat rehabilitated Morata is supposedly back in the picture, Chelsea will finally have their predominant threat back at their disposal for the likes of Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas to faultlessly find in the danger area. Being imperious aerially and occasionally on the floor, the two-time Galacticos star has beaten the keeper six times in the league this term as well as once in Europe, a record which his employers hope will grow as they chase the leading Manchester duo at the summit of the table.
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