Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou will miss vital games for the Blues

Not only are the Ivory Coast and Ghana participating in next January’s African Nations Cup, they are two of the favourites to win the competition and that could mean a lengthy involvement in Angola. The tournament officially starts on 10th January and that means that Chelsea could be without arguably their two best players for several Premier League matches during the winter.

Didier Drogba has been outstanding for the Blues this season, scoring goals for fun and proving to be unplayable at times. Similarly Michael Essien has made the holding midfield role his own and is pretty much the first name on Carlo Ancelotti’s team sheet due to his power, work-rate and technical ability. Both players are likely to miss Chelsea’s match at Hull on Saturday 9th January, followed by games against Sunderland, Birmingham and Burnley. However, they should both return to play Arsenal on Saturday 6th February.

The manager will be pleased that the fixture list has been relatively kind to his team during this period, with Salomon Kalou also in Angola for the ANC. The team’s trip to Burnley probably represents the toughest fixture and the defence is looking solid thanks to the good form of John Terry, Ashley Cole and Ricardo Carvalho. However, the protection that Essien affords them is invaluable and Ancelotti must be privately dismayed by the disruption that the African Cup of Nations will cause them.

Chelsea are currently even money on betfair to win the Premier League for the first time in four seasons.