Kovacic warns Chelsea cannot afford to be complacent

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Mateo Kovacic has warned against complacency as Chelsea look to confirm their place in the Europa League knockout stages in Belarus.

Chelsea will be confirmed in first place with two rounds of matches to go if they win at BATE Borisov on Thursday and the other Group L game, between Vidi and PAOK in Budapest, is drawn.

Maurizio Sarri has left Alvaro Morata, David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger and Marcos Alonso at home, but Eden Hazard has travelled despite only just recovering from a back problem.

N’Golo Kante was a late call-up, after Cesc Fabregas was left at home after reporting fever on Wednesday morning.

Sarri defended rotating his options, insisting rest was necessary for those left at home, while Kovacic acknowledged Liverpool’s plight at Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday provided a cautionary tale. Liverpool won 4-0 at Anfield, but lost 2-0 in Serbia.

“I watched the game, Liverpool struggled a lot,” the on-loan Real Madrid midfielder said.

“In Belgrade the atmosphere is tough. It’s difficult to play there, like here. These are games where you need to concentrate a lot or you will lose the game.

“The most important thing is we need to be prepared so that what happened to Liverpool doesn’t happen to us.”