Chelsea moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League as they made light work of Diego Costa's absence with a routine victory at Leicester.

Marcos Alonso's double helped the leaders brush aside the poor defending champions as Antonio Conte's side clinched a 3-0 win.

Pedro added a third and the visitors exorcised any demons at the King Power Stadium following defeat which cost ex-boss Jose Mourinho his job during last season's dismal campaign.

After that 2-1 win in December 2015 Leicester were on the way to a stunning title success but fast forward 13 months and defeat was their 10th of the season and they are five points above the relegation zone.

Chelsea started the game four points clear having lost their 13-match winning league run with a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham but the focus was on the missing Costa after reports of a bust-up with boss Conte.

The striker did not travel with the rest of the squad and Chelsea had initially declined to comment on Friday's reports but before the game Conte said, via the club's Twitter account, the 28-year-old suffered a back injury on Tuesday.

But after cruising to victory in style, the Blues hardly looked like they missed the 14-goal forward. What crisis?