Ben Chilwell will return to the starting lineup when Chelsea and Aston Villa clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Chelsea will be eager to bounce back to winning ways when they welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. And Mauricio Pochettino has greeted positive updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Marc Cucurella (illness), Moises Caicedo (knee), Noni Madueke (knock), and Armando Broja (knee) have made progress during their rehabilitation programs. The quartet will be in contention to feature against Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, Reece James (hamstring), Benoit Badiashile (thigh), Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring), and Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) are closing in on returning to action. But Wesley Fofana (knee), Romeo Lavia (ankle), and Christopher Nkunku (knee) remain on the sidelines.
Pochettino discussed several players during his pre-match press conference. He said, “We need to recover players. It is important that many names and players start to be available to be involved in the game. We need to assess Moi tomorrow. He was training individually, not with the team today. We need to assess tomorrow and we will see if he can be involved on Sunday.”
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“Marc suffered a fever but has been back since when we restarted the training this week. Noni was involved also during the week in training, so I think yes he will be ready. Maybe we need one day more for Broja. I think maybe he can be involved Sunday, but we are not sure. We need to assess him tomorrow.”
“It’s the same situation we can maybe talk about with many different players. Broja arrives and maybe he will be involved at the weekend but it is after nine months that he has not been competing. We cannot put the responsibility on him.”
Pochettino will likely ease Broja back into the thick of the action. So, Nicolas Jackson will retain his spot as the central striker. Meanwhile, Pochettino will change the formation on Sunday, going back to the 3-4-2-1, with Ben Chilwell returning to the starting lineup.
Chilwell and Malo Gusto will be the two wing-backs, with Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva, and Levi Colwill being the three centre-backs. The defensive unit will cover Robert Sanchez, who will take his usual spot between the sticks.
As for the midfield unit, Lesley Ugochukwu, Conor Gallagher, and Enzo Fernandez retain their spots, with Fernandez taking up advanced positions. So, Caicedo will appear off the bench. Finally, Raheem Sterling will support Jackson in the final third. Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke will thus find themselves on the bench.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Gusto, Gallagher, Ugochukwu, Chilwell; Sterling, Enzo Fernandez; Jackson
