Conor Gallagher and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will start when Chelsea take on Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Chelsea are coming into the game against Nottingham Forest on the back of a comfortable victory over Bournemouth. And the Blues will be fairly confident of grinding out all three points against a struggling Nottingham Forest side. The home side are currently 19th in the league table and were beaten by Manchester United in their last outing.
Chelsea will be the favourites heading into the contest, and they will look to embark on a winning run on Sunday. The west Londoners have won the last four matches against Nottingham Forest keeping a clean sheet in three of them. Meanwhile, Chelsea have a number of injury problems ahead of Sunday’s game.
Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats
Reece James picked up another injury against Bournemouth, and he is set to be sidelined for a few weeks. Wesley Fofana, N’Golo Kante, Armando Broja, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Ben Chilwell are sidelined with injuries as well. Edouard Mendy could miss out as well. And Graham Potter spoke about the Senegalese goalkeeper during his pre-match press conference.
Potter said, “Mendy we’re not sure, we’ll see how he is over the next few days. He has a problem with a bone that he picked up at the World Cup and needed a little bit of time.”
However, the return of Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech following their World Cup breaks will come as a boost for Graham Potter. Both players are expected to be in the matchday squad, even if they do not start.
Graham Potter is likely to set up in a 4-3-3 formation with Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal. Cesar Azpilicueta and Marc Cucurella are expected to start as the full-backs here. Trevoh Chalobah should pair up with summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly at the heart of the Chelsea defense.
In the midfield, Jorginho is likely to hold the defensive midfield position alongside Connor Gallagher and Mason Mount. Gallagher will act as the box-to-box midfielder, adding drive and energy in the middle of the park. Mount will be expected to add creativity from the midfield.
As for the front three, Kai Havertz will lead the line after his goalscoring display against Bournemouth. In the wide areas, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling are expected to start here. Ziyech, Kovacic and Christian Pulisic will be among the backup options on the bench.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Koulibaly, Cucurella; Gallagher, Jorginho, Mount; Sterling, Havertz, Aubameyang
