Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte is taking time to find a solution to replace Diego Costa.

Costa, scorer of 13 goals as Chelsea top the Premier League table by six points, is suspended for the Boxing Day clash with Bournemouth.

And Conte is considering tinkering with the 3-4-3 formation which has seen his side win a club record 11 straight Premier League games to compensate for the unavailability of Costa.

Michy Batshuayi could be a straight replacement or Conte could deploy two central forwards, amending his 3-4-3 formation.

"I have four days to evaluate the situation and to try to find the best solution for the team," Conte said.

"For sure Diego is an important player for us, but in these days we are working to find the right solution.

"In the squad I can have different solutions for his substitution.

"We are working to find the right solution with the right men in the right place to try to continue this way, to try to continue to win."

N'Golo Kante will also serve a one-match ban for accumulating five yellow cards and the France midfielder, a Premier League champion with Leicester last season, is also difficult to replace.

"For this reason, this is a good test for us, because we play this game without two players very important for our team," Conte added.

"It's important in this test to evaluate the group situation in our squad, also to give the possibility to play some player that until now is not playing a lot or to find another solution.

"What my eye sees in this game is very important."

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Show all 23 1 /23 Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Wayne Hennessey: 5 out of 10 Lost confidence after conceding, and should have done better with Chelsea's third. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Joel Ward: 7 out of 10 Impressed, both in defence and in delivering from the right flank, before the game was up. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Scott Dann: 6 out of 10 Never stopped fighting in a lost cause. 2015 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Damien Delaney: 6 out of 10 Held back by an early yellow card, he lost this season's round two with Costa. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Pape Souare: 5 out of 10 Ended the game flat on his back, and the preceding 90 minutes weren't much better. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings James McArthur: 6 out of 10 Showed his worth in protecting the defence and supporting the attack. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Mile Jedinak: 5 out of 10 Chased shadows in midfield before being booked and replaced. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Jason Puncheon: 7 out of 10 The most likely to make something happen for Palace, he was let down by his teammates' finishing. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Wilfried Zaha: 5 out of 10 Frustrated down the flank, his crossing and shooting lacked assertiveness. 2015 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Lee Chung-Yong: 5 out of 10 Tidy in possession, but his final ball was often inaccurate. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Fraizer Campbell: 5 out of 10 His manager wants a striker this transfer window, and this performance will not convince him otherwise. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Thibaut Courtois: 6 out of 10 Had little to do in facing Palace's makeshift attack. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Branislav Ivanovic: 6 out of 10 Uncompromising in his defensive duel with Zaha. 2015 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Kurt Zouma: 8 out of 10 Made some crucial first-half interceptions as Palace threatened to counter. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings John Terry: 7 out of 10 Utilised all of his experience to marshal his team to victory. 7 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Cesar Azpilicueta: 7 out of 10 A tidy performance at left-back where he showed a new willingness to get forward. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Cesc Fabregas: 8 out of 10 Demonstrated his true ability at times, most notably with a lovely through ball in the build-up to Oscar's opener. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings John Obi Mikel: 7 out of 10 Fortunate to escape a red card, let alone a yellow, but displayed his usual positional discipline to full effect. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Willian: 9 out of 10 A very good performance that sparked into a great one during ten second half minutes in which he scored one and made one. Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Oscar: 8 out of 10 A continual nuisance in and around the Palace box, he set Chelsea on their way to success. 8 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Eden Hazard: 5 out of 10 Lasted just 16 minutes in what was one of his better performances this season. 5 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Diego Costa: 9 out of 10 Showed rare maturity in dealing both with Delaney's physical presence, and setting up the first goal. Deserved his when it came. 2016 Getty Images Crystal Palace vs Chelsea player ratings Best off the bench: Pedro 7 out of 10 Replaced Hazard, and immediately showed an attacking intent. GETTY IMAGES

Chelsea players had three days off this week; Costa and Kante were given an additional day's break.

Conte wanted to refresh minds as well as bodies with the time off, but now has told his players to be unrelenting in their winning sequence.

"The most important thing is to recover, not only with your body, above all with your head," he added.

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Arsenal hold the record of 14 successive wins in the Premier League era, with Chelsea able to equal Manchester United's 12 with victory over the Cherries. Both the Gunners and United's winning runs spanned two seasons.

And Conte won 12 straight Serie A games with Juventus in 2013-14, when they won 33 of 38 games.

But given Chelsea lost at home to Bournemouth last season in the final weeks of Jose Mourinho's reign, Conte is taking nothing for granted.

"I don't like the stats," Conte added.

"I prefer to be focused every game and to think, to take three points, to increase our table (tally).

Antonio Conte has not yet made up his mind over who will replace Diego Costa against Bournemouth (Getty)

"In the past when we won all these games (with Juventus) the championship was very good for us. I think now it's different.

"This league there are many teams that can fight for the Champions League, for the title, for the Europa League.

"For this reason it's important to continue in this way, not stop.

"We all know that it won't be easy, but we have to try to continue this way, with all our strength."