Chelsea travel to rivals West Ham on Sunday afternoon for their second match of the Premier League season.
The Blues will be looking to build on a positive display in last weekend’s 1-1 home draw against Liverpool.
Mauricio Pochettino did spring a surprise last week by using a back three, but we’re predicting he’ll return to the 4-2-3-1 system against West Ham that we saw for most of pre-season.
The Chelsea Chronicle has predicted two changes to the side from the Liverpool result.
GK and defence
Robert Sanchez keeps his position in net as the only recognised first-choice goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge. The Evening Standard reports that Chelsea have now given themselves a £20million budget to sign a backup keeper, though.
We’ll wait for confirmation in Pochettino’s Friday press conference, but speculation in the media claims Reece James has picked up the latest in a long line of injuries. The Guardian reports that Chelsea captain James could be absent for months with a new hamstring problem.
Axel Disasi, who scored on his debut last week, could shift across from centre-back to right-back if Chelsea decide to go to a back four.
Meanwhile, Thiago Silva and Levi Colwill would keep their spots as the starting centre-halves.
Ben Chilwell is the most likely option to complete the defence at left-back. We suspect he’ll wear the captain’s armband, too.
Midfield
Enzo Fernandez seems a fair shout to retain his starting position after a fantastic opening day performance against Liverpool.
The first of two changes could see Moises Caicedo given a club debut at the expense of Conor Gallagher.
Caicedo, 21, officially joined the Blues from Brighton this week and we’ll be amazed if he’s not put straight into the starting line-up.
However, it would be very tough on Gallagher to miss out after his excellent performance last weekend. The future of the £50million-rated midfielder (Fabrizio Romano) remains up in the air due to the new arrivals.
Attack
Raheem Sterling could keep his starting role and move out to the right wing.
Elsewhere, Carney Chukwuemeka will look to build on his recent momentum and create from a No 10 position.
The second change could see Mykhailo Mudryk come into the side as the left-winger at the expense of James, which brings the obvious change of formation.
Finally, Nicolas Jackson leads the line again as he goes in search of his first goal of the season.
Chelsea predicted line-up
Sanchez
Disasi Silva Colwill Chilwell
Fernandez Caicedo
Sterling Chukwuemeka Mudryk
Jackson
IN: Moises Caicedo, Mykhailo Mudryk
OUT: Reece James, Conor Gallagher
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
