Reece James might not be fit enough to return to the Chelsea starting lineup against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday.
Chelsea will aim to continue the recent unbeaten run when they lock horns with Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday evening. And Mauricio Pochettino has greeted positive updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka are closing in on returning to action. However, Wednesday’s game might have come too soon for the duo to feature from the get-go. However, Robert Sanchez (match fitness), Wesley Fofana (knee), Romeo Lavia (hamstring), and Enzo Fernandez (groin) remain on the sidelines.
Pochettino did not provide any fitness updates on his players during his pre-match press conference. However, the Argentine tactician spoke about the need to give time to those who have recently returned from their injury layoffs instead of throwing them into the deep end.
The Chelsea manager said, “The players that have arrived from injury need time [to regain full fitness] and we don’t have time. We need to play and start games with players who can cope for 90 minutes. We will see if the injured players can cope with some minutes [on Wednesday night].”
“We have the names and bodies, but they are not 100% to play and cope with the demands of the Premier League for 90 minutes at the moment. Reece is training well and now we need to control the game time because we want him to finish the season really strong. He is doing really well and we hope tomorrow he will have the possibility to play a little bit more than against Forest.”
Reece James will make another appearance off the bench, with Malo Gusto starting as the right-back on Wednesday. The Frenchman will join Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, and Marc Cucurella in the backline. Meanwhile, there is no looking past Djordje Petrovic between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Brighton & Hove Albion.
As for the midfield unit, Moises Caicedo and Conor Gallagher are automatic picks in the double pivot. Cole Palmer will reprise the no. 10 role, with Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk being the two wide attackers. Finally, Nicolas Jackson will spearhead the attack for the away side on Wednesday.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Badiashile, Cucurella; Caicedo, Gallagher; Madueke, Palmer, Mudryk; Jackson
