Chelsea drew their previous Premier League game vs Man United 1-1 last weekend but now they get back into the Europa League.
The Blues travel to the Commerzbank Arena on Thursday to take on Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals.
Right now, Chelsea are fourth on the Premier League table but finishing in the top-four is still not guaranteed which means this game against Eintracht becomes even more important.
Chelsea news vs Eintracht:
Antonio Rudiger picked up a knee injury during the draw vs Man United which means the defender will not feature on Thursday.
Maurizio Sarri is short in terms of defenders which means Christensen is the most obvious replacement for Rudiger who will partner David Luiz in central defence vs Eintracht.
Emerson has played at left-back during the past couple of games but Marcos Alonso played vs Man United on Sunday and the Spaniard is expected to retain his place on Thursday while Azpilicueta will play at right-back.
Jorginho and Kante has been more or less the preferred midfielders for Sarri this season and the pair will once again start vs Eintracht with Jorginho playing in central midfield while the Frenchman is deployed in the wide areas.
Mateo Kovacic is set to be replaced as Ruben Loftus-Cheek comes in to play alongside Kante and Jorginho.
Willian got a start vs Man United but the Brazilian should drop back to the bench making way for Pedro who will play down the right wing while Eden Hazard operates down the left-hand side.
Gonzalo Higuain had another poor outing vs the Red Devils and the Argentine is expected to be benched vs Eintracht meaning Olivier Giroud will start up front.
Chelsea news: Blues’ predicted XI vs Eintracht
First XI: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Alonso, Jorginho, Loftus-cheek, Kante, Pedro, Giroud, Hazard.
