That’s six wins in a row for Chelsea – and they have kept a clean sheet in every one of them, scoring 17 without reply. Antonio Conte is on the pitch, hugging his players. They are in brilliant form and looking very difficult to break down. Boro battled hard and if they continue performing like this should be fine. They remain one point above the bottom three as it stands. Thanks for reading. Bye!
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Full-time! Middlesbrough 0-1 Chelsea
Chelsea are top of the league thanks to yet another Diego Costa goal.
90 min +4: With 20 seconds to go Barragan tries to find Ramirez down the right channel with a long ball but puts too much juice on it. That should be that. Chelsea will finish the weekend on top of the league.
90 min +3: Tick, tock, tick, tock. Chelsea are closing this out with very little bother.
90 min +1: Costa shoots from range, accidentally catching Gibson on the shin in the process. He picks the Boro defender up – what sportsmanship! Chelsea’s final change sees Hazard stroll off, with Oscar coming on for him.
90 min: There will be at least four minutes of added time.
89 min: Moses comes off – slowly – for Ivanovic, who has found game time hard to come by since that horror against Arsenal. Boro’s final sub sees Leadbitter return, replacing Forshaw.
89 min: Eventually Downing tries to find Negredo with a cross from the left but it’s too deep. Goal kick.
88 min: Boro pop it about in midfield but are struggling to find a way through Chelsea’s defence. They really have become masters of shutting games down.
86 min: The attempt beats the wall but does not dip sufficiently to threaten Valdes.
84 min: Ramirez fouls Hazard on the edge of the box. It’s clumsy rather than naughty, but this is very dangerous indeed. David Luiz is eyeing it up. Boro are forming a four-man wall, which Cahill and Costa join to impede Valdes’s view.
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83 min: Alonso – cleverly, cynically; delete depending on which team you support – brings down Fischer near halfway as Boro sought to counter on the right.
80 min: Chelsea’s first change sees Chalobah, who was on loan at Boro in the Championship, replace Pedro. Chalobah will sit next to Kanté and Matic.
78 min: Pedro and Costa combine brilliantly but Boro get enough bodies in the way and then rapidly break through Traore. This time he decides to pass to Negredo. The former Man City striker takes a magnificent first touch and his shot is on target … but Courtois is alert to make his first proper save of the evening.
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75 min: Traore picks up possession down the right and has options to cross or layoff but instead shoots wildly over from an improbable distance. Fischer and Negredo are furious with their team-mate.
74 min: Chambers is booked after Costa turns him on halfway and the defender tugs the Chelsea striker to the floor.
73 min: Fischer is now on, replacing Clayton. Realistically, it is hard to see Boro finding a way past this Chelsea defence.
71 min: Boro are making two changes in the hope of reversing their fortunes. Downing is the first on, coming in for Fabio. Fischer is also ready to come on but play resumes with a Chelsea throw before he is introduced.
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65 min: … who quickly sets away Chelsea on the counter. They are four v four with Costa in possession. His threaded through ball picks out Moses. He cannot finish, lofting the ball over Valdes’s goal.
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65 min: And now Traore wins a corner at the opposite end. It ends up being smothered by Courtois …
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63 min: Chelsea hit the bar! Costa does well in the buildup to knock down a David Luiz cross for Pedro, but his effort comes back off the bar with Valdes beaten.
62 min: Barragan tries to find Negredo from the right but David Luiz gets to the ball first and Courtois follows up to smother.
61 min: Now Traore has a shot blocked before slipping before connecting with the rebound. Boro are suddenly back in this and enjoying their best spell for some time.
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59 min: You probably only need one hand to count Premier League players faster than Traore. He races past four Chelsea players in the blink of an eye before being taken down by Kante near halfway.
55 min: But now Boro have a good chance. Negredo steps over a Clayton pass, allowing Ramirez to run on to the ball. The shot, however, drifts over Courtois’ bar.
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54 min: Chelsea are so, so comfortable. They are barely breaking sweat and Boro could be doing a lot more to pressure them.
52 min: His strike comes off the wall, specifically the forehead of David Luiz.
51 min: Azpilicueta is yellow carded for dragging down Ramirez after a poor touch from the defender allowed the Boro attacker possession. This certainly within range for Ramirez.
49 min: De Roon fouls Costa cynically near halfway, standing on the Chelsea player’s toes. In the past the striker would have reacted angrily to that. De Roon gets a final warning from the referee. Next time, he’ll be booked.
46 min: Valdes does well to deny Alonso inside 20 seconds, while Chambers does well to disrupt Pedro on the rebound.
Restarted!
46 min: Costa gets us going again. Can Boro respond? Negredo was anonymous in the opening 45, so he needs to improved considerably.
Half-time! Middlesbrough 0-1 Chelsea
Diego Costa’s goal is the difference at the break.
45 min: There will be two minutes added time.
44 min: Ramirez harries Azpilicueta but concedes a foul for nudging the Chelsea defender on the back as he attempted to head away a long hook forward.
Goal! Middlesbrough 0-1 Chelsea (Costa)
41 min: And from the corner Chelsea score. It’s Costa’s 10th of the season but Boro can only blame themselves for some woeful defending. The ball bobbles around the near post and Chambers fails to clear, inadvertently playing Costa in. He screws the ball home first time.
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40 min: Moses, picked out by Costa, steps over the ball and dazzles Fabio before his shot is deflected out for a corner.
37 min: A minute later Chelsea attack through Hazard and then Costa, who squares to Pedro. He pulls the ball back to Kanté and he feeds Alonso on the left. The wing-back’s cross is cleared by Valdes, who gets a nasty knock on the back of the head for his troubles.
36 min: Boro have just taken some time to play a bit of keep ball but Traore has no interest in continuing that so races down the left, leaving Kante and Cahill in his wake and sends a cross from the right. David Luiz clears.
35 min: Kante attempts a speculative long range pass for Costa. It’s bread and butter for Valdes.
33 min: Boro could do with getting their foot on the ball for a minute or so to stem this onslaught. It now seems only a matter of time before Chelsea open the scoring.
31 min: Chelsea are dominant. Costa turns four Boro players on the D before picking out Pedro all alone on the right. The Spain attacker is caught in two minds, however – does he shoot or does he cross? Instead it is somewhere in between and Valdes makes an easy stop.
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29 min: What a save from Valdes! Hazard picks out Moses down the right with a delightful lofted pass. He squares to Pedro, who attempts to sidefoot the ball home only for the keeper to get a fingertip on the shot, turning it over the bar for a corner.
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27 min: David Luiz heads the ball straight to De Roon in a dangerous position but the Boro midfielder is whistled at for using his hands to control.
26 min: Alonso latches on to a Valdes clearance and shoots well wide. In the last five minutes, Chelsea have had 91% possession.
24 min: There has been a lot of hard work and it is by no means the worst game ever seen but we are still waiting for a shot on target.
22 min: Moses picks out Alonso with a deep cross from the right but the wing-back’s touch is poor, resulting in a goal-kick for Boro.
21 min: Ramirez is working very hard here, something you can’t always say. He beats Azpilicueta for pace on the left, which is no mean feat but eventually cuts in due to no options in front of him and Boro are unable to translate what appeared a promising break into an opportunity.
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19 min: Moses shoots wild and wide after getting past Da Silva following a one-two with Hazard.
18 min: Ramírez is played into possession down the right by Barragan but he raises his head to check what options are around him and takes a poor touch, kicking the ball out of play.
17 min: Da Silva does well to track Moses, who is picked out by a lovely ball from Matic, and block a threatening cross. The corner is cleared.
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15 min: Kante sends a diagonal pass meant for Moses on the right into the stands. “Wahey!” shout the home fans.
14 min: Chambers intercepts a below par Hazard cross from the left. This game is lacking a spark.
13 min: Seconds later Matic fouls Traore just inside Chelsea’s half.
12 min: Negredo drops deep to get his foot on the ball and is tracked by David Luiz, who clips the striker from behind. It’s a free-kick but nothing more.
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10 min: Hazard is continuing but limping. He curls a harmless effort straight into Valdes’s arms.
8 min: Clayton is booked for bringing down Hazard, who shrugs off a challenge from De Roon with a tasty turn before being clattered by Clayton’s follow up challenge. That’s his third of the season. Hazard remains down and is getting some attention to his right ankle.
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8 min: Boro have shaded the opening exchanges. Chelsea have yet to settle.
6 min: Ramirez dribbles forward after David Luiz misjudges a long ball from Da Silva but the Boro attacker’s cross to De Roon is a tad misplaced. The Dutchman checks his run and the move eventually ends with Traoré’s cross from the right being blocked.
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5 min: Boro are a bit hasty when playing the ball out from the back, leading to Pedro pressing Gibson into hooking out for a throw.
4 min: Ramirez squirms out of a couple of challenges in midfield with some neat control. His performance will be key if Boro are to get a result today.
2 min: Barragan does well to hold off Hazard, who is making his 150th Premier League appearance here, earning a free after the Belgian nudges him on the back while shielding the ball.
Kick-off!
1 min: We are underway. Boro get going, playing from right to left as we watch.
We will kick-off after a moment of silence that ends up turning into applause for Remembrance Sunday. Nobody at all is wearing a poppy – who’s ready to fume at this lack of respect?
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The teams are out. The lightshow (!) is done with and we are moments away from some hot! hot! hot! Premier League football action. Middlesbrough are in red, as you’d expect, and Chelsea are in their black and yellow change strip.
“Every game is a challenge for us,” says Aitor Karanka on TV. “It’s important to think and play our football and win,” believes Antonio Conte. More of these hot takes as we get them.
Chelsea’s last game, that thumping of Everton, was perhaps the most one-sided of the season so far. And ominously for Boro they are unchanged. The hosts, meanwhile, have made two swaps from the draw at City: Fabio Da Silva replaces George Friend at left-back, and Gaston Ramírez is back from suspension, meaning Stewart Downing drops to the bench.
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A question for the floor: what’s the least appealing fixture in the Premier League? Of course not this one, but looking at West Brom v Burnley tomorrow night, there aren’t many less exciting for neutrals than that …
Email me: alan.smith@theguardian.com, or sum it up in fewer than 140 characters by making a tweet to @alansmith90.
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The teams
Middlesbrough: Valdes; Barragan, Chambers, Gibson, Da Silva; Traore, Forshaw, Clayton, De Roon, Ramirez; Negredo. Subs: Guzan, Espinosa, Fischer, Nsue, Leadbitter, Downing, Rhodes.
Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro, Diego Costa, Hazard. Subs: Begovic, Ivanovic, Terry, Chalobah, Fabregas, Oscar, Batshuayi.
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Remember that Saturday evening in late September when Chelsea were brutally dismantled by Arsenal and it seemed that Antonio Conte had more work than initially bargained for to return them to title challengers? Yeah, well since then Chelsea have won every game to an aggregate score of 16-0. A sixth victory in a row here would move them top of the table, a point clear of Manchester City and Liverpool. Early days and all that, but they have the look of contenders.
Middlesbrough should not be completely discounted this afternoon, though. They have stifled both Arsenal and City in recent weeks to earn draws and have also beaten Bournemouth at home, although the head to head record makes for grim reading. Not only have Chelsea won the past half dozen meetings but it is more than a decade since Boro last scored in this fixture – Mark Viduka finding the net in a 2-1 win in August 2006. (Obvious caveat: today’s hosts have spent much of that period in the second tier).
Chelsea’s run has largely been put down to a change in system but there have been more notable facets. Certainly the switch to a three-man defence has been a boost and Conte says “I’m surprised at the speed to understand this new change”, but one cannot underplay that Chelsea are a team again and the star players are locked in and engaged. In particular Eden Hazard, who is close to the irresistible form he was in the season before last. “You can see Eden is always involved in the game, not calm and off during the game. No, he always stays in the game and he’s always a point of reference for his team-mates,” Conte says of the Belgian.
Will he be decisive here? Kick-off at the Riverside is 4pm GMT. Team news follows imminently.
Meantime, why not read Dominic Fifield’s exclusive interview with Eden Hazard.
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