Premier League Weekend Review: Costa will come back even better

The street fighter - Diego Costa won't curb his aggression

Loic Remy might have scored for Chelsea but Jose Mourinho's side missed the aggression of Diego Costa on Saturday. Ralph Ellis believes both club and player will end up benefitting from the enforced rest.

Diego Costa gave a superb interview at the weekend, and one quote stood out. "We had our own rules and that's the way it was to survive. What mattered was scoring goals and winning."

Taken in isolation you might think he was discussing the night he turned his aggression on to Liverpool's defenders and finished up collecting a three match ban for stamping on Emre Can. He wasn't. He was talking about growing up playing on the streets of a tiny Brazilian town called Lagarto.

It's that street football background - and the fact that he didn't get near a professional club until he was 15 - that rather defines the way Chelsea's centre forward plays the game. He's a throwback to the days when a centre-forward had a kicking match with the centre half and the ref let them both get on with it.

I may be wrong, but I see that as part of the entertainment of professional football. I want to see players showing passion and fury on behalf of their club and its fans. I want to see a match, not a training session. And that makes Costa compelling viewing, just it made Luis Suarez a must-watch when he was at Liverpool, just as it made Carlos Tevez the man you couldn't take your eyes off when he was in England too.

And if Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the weekend proved anything, it was the difference that the aggression and work rate of Costa makes.

I said last week that John Terry was the most important player at Stamford Bridge and I've not changed my mind. Without his determination and leadership I think a tired looking Chelsea side might well have lost to the reigning champions on Saturday night.

But that makes sure they don't lose. Costa makes sure they win, and the three match ban handed out to him might turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

For a start, he will have had a handy little mid-season break at a club chasing honours now on three fronts that has already played 36 games this season. And second you sense from hearing him talk that the hunger for scoring goals and winning he gained on those Brazilian streets as a boy has been made even more ravenous by events of the last week.

After successfully protecting their five point lead at the top of the table, Chelsea are now as short as 1.330/100 to recapture the Premier League title. But there is still a value bet to be found around them, and that is to back Chelsea/Costa at 2.1211/10 in the winner/top goalscorer market.

He currently holds a three-goal advantage over Sergio Aguero (17 versus 14), and you can't help but feel that when he's served two more games of his ban he'll be chomping at the bit to explode into action again. His Premier League return is against Burnley at Stamford Bridge on February 21 and I bet he can feel a hat-trick coming on already.

It was interesting that Costa was so willing to talk about his ban at the weekend. We're in an age where most players would run and hide from the bad publicity. He fronted up and was honest, and that's typical of the character he shows on the field as well.

It's old school. And maybe that's why I like it. I also think it will make the difference as the season unfolds.