Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz will return while Billy Gilmour could feature when Chelsea face Sevilla in a UEFA Champions League Group E tie on Wednesday.
Chelsea will hope to clinch top spot in Group E of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League when they lock horns with Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Wednesday night. And, Frank Lampard has a full strength squad at his disposal ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Billy Gilmour is the latest player to make himself available ahead of the trip to take on Sevilla. And, during his pre-match press conference, Lampard confirmed that the young midfielder is a part of the Chelsea squad for the midweek Champions League fixture. The Chelsea boss also confirmed that he will make rotations on Wednesday.
“Yes, we will look at making changes to the side and I’ll have to do that for different reasons. Some players have been playing a lot and it’s been a hectic schedule and will be a busy period over the next few weeks. On the other side of that, the players who haven’t been playing as much recently have been training really well. We have players who are knocking on the door to play.”
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“Billy is fit now. He could probably do with some more match minutes, which are hard to get behind the scenes in Covid times due to the way the bubbles are set up here at Cobham. He’s in the squad tomorrow and it would be nice if he can get some minutes, in particular over these next two Champions League games.”
Gilmour should get some game-time against Sevilla, but it is only likely to be off the bench, with Lampard expected to ease him back into the role of a regular. Meanwhile, Chelsea should revert to the 4-2-3-1 formation, following the return of Kai Havertz.
Havertz ought to reprise the no. 10 role, with Olivier Giroud, whose future remains uncertain, set to lead the line for Chelsea against Sevilla. Christian Pulisic is another player who has regained fitness and is pushing for a recall. Pulisic should start on the left wing, with Callum Hudson-Odoi likely to be stationed on the right flank.
In midfield, some more rotation should see Jorginho come in for N’Golo Kante, with Mateo Kovacic slotting in alongside him in the double pivot. The defensive line should see a lot of rotations as well, with Kurt Zouma the only player expected to keep his place.
Zouma should be joined by Antonio Rudiger at the heart of the Chelsea defence, with Emerson Palmieri and Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta expected to be the full-back pairing. Finally, in goal, Edouard Mendy should keep his place ahead of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Predicted Chelsea Starting XI: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Zouma, Emerson; Jorginho, Kovacic; Hudson-Odoi, Havertz, Pulisic; Giroud
