Antonio Conte does not have any fresh injury concerns to jostle with as Chelsea host Stoke City in the final gameweek of the Premier League in 2017.
Chelsea returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win over Brighton. Antonio Conte will love for his team to end the year on a high, with a positive result against Stoke City. The manager though, will be delighted with the fact that there are no major injury concerns going into Saturday.
Conte exclaimed in the pre-match conference that David Luiz and Charly Musonda are the only ones unavailable for the match against Stoke City, with duo too, expected to be back in action by Monday, which means they are likely to be in contention to feature against Norwich City.
“There is no news. All the players are available. The same players from the last game are available. Musonda and David Luiz are improving a lot, their recovery is very close. I’m not sure about the next game but for sure against Norwich they will be available.”
Catch up on the latest news from Antonio Conte’s pre-Stoke press conference earlier today… #CHESTK
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Conte should continue with the usual suspects at the back, with the trio of Cahill, Christensen and Rudiger likely to be deployed. In midfield, N’Golo Kante could be paired with Tiemoue Bakayoko in order to provide more steel in the middle of the park.
The manager is also likely to retain his 3-5-2 formation, with Eden Hazard partnering Alvaro Morata in attack. The presence of three midfielders in the starting lineup, with the third, potentially Cesc Fabregas, given a bit more freedom to venture forward has seen the Blues become more solid in their defensive duties and buildup.
One player Conte chose to talk about was Baba Rahman, who has been on the road to recovery, after sustaining a nasty injury in the African Cup of Nations.
“This player is coming back from a bad injury and he’s struggling a bit to recover the best form. I must be honest, I don’t know what will happen with Baba. From a human aspect, I’d like to give him an opportunity to come back strong like before.”
“Now he has to face his recovery. He’s showing great patience because he’s struggling a lot. If I can help him I’m ready to help him because there is the player, and then there is the human aspect. For him it’s good to stay here and recover.”