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Chelsea legend concerned about Hazard’s fitness

Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola has revealed that he is concerned about Eden Hazard’s form and believes the 25-year-old is struggling with fatigue.

Speaking after his former club’s victory on penalties over Norwich in the FA Cup tonight he said:

“I saw the game the other day against Leicester, who were really good and should have had more than that [a point],”

“I saw them tired a bit. This doesn’t surprise me because the schedule has been tight. Some of the players – like Eden – were very low in stamina.

“You could see Eden was trying to do things but it was one of those moments when nothing came alive for him. He was low in physicality, in my opinion.”

Although Hazard scored the winning goal in the penalty shoot out, he has looked a little off the pace in recent games, in comparison with the dazzling form he showed in October and November.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has also repeatedly complained about his sides hectic fixture list lately. Of course, his team having Alvaro Morata and Pedro sent off tonight, aswell as the game going into extra-time and penalties will have done little to improve the Italian coaches concerns over the fitness of what he feels is already a stretched squad.

The Blues will again face a early Saturday kick-off this weekend in the Premier League when they travel to the South Coast to face Chris Hughton’s Brighton&Hove Albion.