Chelsea: Antonio Conte Set to Discard Two Stars in January

Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte at the Emirates Stadium, London, September 24. Conte is set to discard two star defenders. Paul Gilham/Getty

Antonio Conte is preparing to oust two of his under-performing defenders after watching Chelsea fall to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.

Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill have been singled out for criticism in the back line of Conte's defense, after the latter was at fault for Arsenal's first goal at the Emirates Stadium.

With John Terry set to return to the Chelsea lineup by next weekend when the Blues face Hull, and Kurt Zouma close to recovering from a knee injury, Conte has options in defense.

According to the Daily Mail, the Italian coach will look to ease Ivanovic and Cahill out of his team as he looks to eradicate the mistakes that have been made in the opening weeks.

Conte signed center-back David Luiz and left-back Marcus Alonso on deadline day in August but missed out on his main targets.

Juventus' Leonardo Bonucci and Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly topped his list but Chelsea was unable to sign either.

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