Chelsea have been rock steady under Thomas Tuchel this season but they could very well stumble immediately after the international break since they face Leicester City – away from home.
Such a strong fixture right after a two-week pause could pose a bit of an issue for the manager since his team has gone out of sync and several first-team players will just be returning from injuries.
The Blues are still the favourites to pick up a win on Saturday but as this is Leicester’s home game, Brendan Rodgers’ side is sure to throw the kitchen sink at them.
Chelsea go into this weekend’s match at the back of one draw and our wins but they have teams like Manchester City and West Ham United breathing down their necks. This means they will need to pick up all three points on Saturday or they risk losing their top spot in the coming weeks. Tuchel is expected to have an almost fully-fit squad to choose from but given the depth that Chelsea have, name a strong starting line up should anyways not be an issue for the manager.
Chelsea team news and injury updates vs Leicester City:
Thiago Silva did not play for Brazil during the international break meaning he is a guaranteed starter this weekend in central defence – alongside Rudiger and possibly Christensen.
Marcos Alonso has returned to training this week so he will be available for selection but Ben Chilwell is currently the No 1 left full-back for the Blues and we expect it to remain that way vs Leicester City.
N’Golo Kante was another player who did not feature for France during the break so he too will be fresh and raring to go. And with Mateo Kovacic out with a hamstring injury Jorginho will start despite the Italian playing during the international break.
Mason Mount had to withdraw from the England squad due to complications from dental surgery but the club have confirmed his return to first-team training so he too will be pushing for a start.
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With Pulisic back to the fold and Hudson-Odoi playing some pretty neat football, Thomas Tuchel ideally does not have to hand Mount a start. So we’ll how this one goes.
Mount’s return is also not good news for Ross Barkley who had seen a lot of game time in the previous few weeks. But now that so many players are back, Barkley is likely to fall down the pecking order.
Timo Werner might just be shy of full fitness so he looks all set to miss out on Saturday but Romelu Lukaku has made a 100% recovery and will be a guaranteed starter at the King Power.
Lukaku’s return is likely going to cause problems for Kai Havertz who was playing as the main centre-forward in the past few weeks. Now with the Belgian returning from injury, Havertz should ideally be getting a deeper role but there’s also a chance that he could be pushed back to the bench.
The Chelsea boss has the option of using Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Hakim Ziyech on the right side of attack and since Kai Havertz had very little goal contributions in the previous few weeks, there’s a chance that Tuchel could be planning a first XI without the German.
