Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says Diego Costa will sit out Sunday's match with Crystal Palace and may not play again this season if the Blues clinch the title with a victory.
However, Loic Remy will be available to face the Eagles, having recovered from injury.
Costa has been struggling with a recurrence of a hamstring problem and Mourinho says Chelsea's results over the last month have allowed him to keep the Spain international on the sidelines.
Asked if Costa would be back on Sunday, Mourinho said: "It isn't worth the risk. Over the last month, if we lost a game and we didn't want to lose a second, he would be back immediately.
"Because the results in the last month were always victories and a draw, we don't need to rush. Remy is fit, definitely back."
Asked if Costa may not return to action this season, Mourinho added: "There is a chance he might not.
"If we win Sunday, I don't think he will play against Liverpool (the following Sunday). If we don't win and we need points against Liverpool, I would say he plays. We are on result after result, need after needs.
"He needs a good period. We are preparing a good working situation for him over the summer."
Three points on Sunday will be enough to clinch the title for Mourinho's men and he is naturally eager to get the job done as soon as possible.
"It's easy," he said. "We need two or three points to be champions. Let's say three, to make sure we don't depend on goal difference.
"We need a victory or we need three points with three draws. Obviously, we want to finish as soon as possible.
"If we can do it at home, better. If we can do it on Sunday, even better. That's what we have in our mind.
"Similar to (recent games against) Arsenal and Leicester, we go to win but, at this moment, any point that we get is a positive point. So, we are calm."
Chelsea are likely to be strong contenders to again challenge for the Premier League next season but Mourinho thinks stringing titles together is difficult in England.
He said: "There are countries where domination is common. Bayern Munich, Celtic, Basel, Olympiakos. There are countries where there is domination for years and years.
"I don't think this country is a good example of that, it is very unpredictable.
"I can imagine, for next season, everyone of the title contenders, with a few new players, is going to be very strong.
"In regard to the Premier League, when the season starts you want to be want to be champions, but you have the risk also that you finish fifth. I think next season is going to be the same."
Mourinho was also given the opportunity to respond to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's suggestion that comments the Chelsea boss made after last weekend's 0-0 draw between the sides had lacked respect but Mourinho shook his head to indicate he did not want to discuss the matter further.
