Lukaku, James and Jorginho back in while there’s no room for Havertz – Chelsea predicted starting line up against West Ham
On Saturday Chelsea face another tough fixture in the form of a London derby against West Ham United.
The Blues are in the midst of a small injury crisis, with Cobham academy graduate Trevor Chalobah being added to a growing injury list.
After resting some key players for their midweek trip to Watford, Thomas Tuchel’s side will have the likes of Reece James and Ballon d’Or third placer Jorginho back in line for a start.
Otherwise, Chalobah joins wing-back Ben Chilwell on the sidelines along with midfield duo N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic.
Chelsea summer signing Romelu Lukaku managed to get some more minutes in the tank against Watford, this time completing 21 minutes to add to the eight he played against former club Manchester United last Sunday.
With his fitness coming back Tuchel may opt to start the 28-year-old against an injury stricken West Ham back line that is without the services of Angelo Ogbonna and potentially Aaron Cresswell, following his injury against Manchester City last week.
So with all that in mind here’s our predicted Chelsea line up.
As usual, the ever reliable Edouard Mendy will continue in goal while Antonio Rudiger will continue alongside Thiago Silva and the returning Andreas Christensen.
James will be welcomed back on the right of Chelsea’s defence, while Marcos Alonso continues to deputise for Chilwell at left wing-back.
Jorginho will return alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek in centre midfield after being afforded some rest in the midweek fixture against Watford, a game Chelsea really struggled to control without their Italian regista.
The front three will see Mason Mount once again as the sole survivor from the Watford win. His work rate will be crucial against one of the hardest working teams in the League.
Timo Werner will also come back in along with Lukaku, with the latter getting his first Premier League start since October 16.
A Chelsea win will see them remain at least one point clear of Man City regardless of their result. It will also see them remain two ahead of Liverpool regardless of the result between them and Wolves.
However, a loss will open up the table and could see Chelsea drop down to third and two points from the top of the league.
In addition, it will mean West Ham close the gap between them and Chelsea to just six points.
The post Lukaku, James and Jorginho back in while there’s no room for Havertz – Chelsea predicted starting line up against West Ham appeared first on CaughtOffside.