Fresh off a crushing 4-0 victory over Juventus in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, Chelsea will be hoping to consolidate their lead at the top of the Premier League table by defeating a Manchester United side who started the post-Ole Gunnar Solskjaer era with a UCL win of their own.
Although the league leaders picked up a couple of injury
worries in the game against Juventus in midweek, with Ben Chilwell and N’Golo
Kante being replaced at Stamford Bridge.
Thomas Tuchel confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Mateo Kovacic and Ben Chilwell are out, while N’Golo Kante is almost certainly going to miss the game unless there is a “miracle”.
Lukaku was back on the bench for
against Juventus on Tuesday but the big Belgian is still lacking match fitness
and will most likely be named among the substitutes against United.
One thing about Thomas Tuchel is that his team does not rely
on any single individual, everyone has a role to play in the team and can be
effective wherever they are deployed.
Even in the absence of those key players, Tuchel still has
enough at his disposal to produce a starting lineup that will hurt Michael
Carrick and his boys when they visit the Bridge on Sunday.
Edouard Mendy is
expected to keep his place in goal, while Tuchel will most likely retain the
back-three of Silva, Rudiger and Chalobah who have been excellent in recent
matches.
In the absence of Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is expected to come in for the
injured Ngolo Kante, while Marcos Alonso will take up Chilwell’s attacking role
on the left flank. The in-form Reece
James is undroppable at the moment so he should start on the
right flank.
Considering the importance of the fixture, Mason Mount could replace Hakim Ziyech up
front as the Moroccan winger has not really impressed in his last few
matches. Callum Hudson Odoi will
retain his place in the team, while Timo
Werner – brimming with confidence after coming on to score in
midweek – will lead the attack.
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