Thiago Silva, Christian Pulisic, and Joao Felix will return to the Chelsea starting lineup against Newcastle United on Sunday.
Chelsea will be desperate to end a dreadful 2022/23 season on a high when they host Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening. And Frank Lampard does not have any new issues hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s final fixture.
Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella, and Mateo Kovacic remain on the sidelines. But Lampard has every other resource at his disposal this weekend and can field a reasonably strong starting lineup.
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Mason Mount has resumed training after recovering from a pelvic issue. But Lampard suggested in his pre-match press conference that the English international will be “touch and go” to feature against Newcastle United this weekend.
Lampard said, “Reece won’t be fit and Mason is going to be really tight. Reece came out [at training] on Wednesday and he went back in. He had a little bit of an awareness but we hope the scan says there is no real damage. It is probably just a little reminder that it is a bit too early to be out.”
Mount will unlikely be fit enough to return to the starting lineup. But he might be in contention to feature off the bench. Meanwhile, the midfield unit should see Enzo Fernandez accompanying Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Conor Gallagher. So Mount and Denis Zakaria should be backup options on the bench.
As for the defensive unit, Thiago Silva should return after finding himself on the bench earlier this week against Manchester United. The Brazilian defender will likely join Wesley Fofana, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Lewis Hall in the backline. And the quartet will protect Kepa Arrizabalaga between the sticks.
Finally, the attack should see a couple of changes. Noni Madueke should be the only attacker retaining his spot. The youngster will join Joa Felix and Christian Pulisic in the final third. So Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, and Raheem Sterling will be backup options on the bench for Chelsea against Newcastle United.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Silva, Fofana, Hall; Loftus-Cheek, Fernandez, Gallagher; Madueke, Felix, Pulisic
