Tony Pulis’ West Bromwich Albion host reigning champions Chelsea at the Hawthorns on Saturday, as we Premier League action returns after a long international break.
In his pre-match conference, Antonio Conte revealed that he would be without the services of three players, youngster Charly Musonda, Michy Batshuayi – who scored the goal that won them the Premier League title the last time the Blues visited the Hawthorns and Victor Moses, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury.
As per their official site, the Italian said, “Batshuayi has a problem in his ankle. Musonda has a problem in his knee, Moses is progressing well and I hope to see him back next week.”
It wasn’t all bad news, however, as Conte went on to say, “Gary Cahill is in contention for tomorrow’s game, he is fit.”
Conte also informed that David Luiz would be in the squad after being left out in his side’s 1-0 victory against Manchester United and that the reason for his omission was a ‘technical’ one. The Brazilian may very well slot back into the starting XI ahead of Andreas Christensen.
Danny Drinkwater returned to training this week after picking up a minor injury in the match against Manchester United. However, the Englishman is unlikely to start tonight and will likely feature in the Blues’ Champions League match against Qarabag next week, should he recover in time.
A lot of the current crop of the Chelsea squad and Antonio Conte himself will have some good memories of this stadium. Michy Batshuayi scored their solitary goal here in May last season that won them the Premier League title with two games to spare and the Italian took some time to reflect on those memories.
He said, “It was a fantastic moment for me, the players, the club and the fans. It was great. I remember this moment very well and I am proud for what we did last season. Now we have to look at the present. This will be a really tough game.”
