Alejandro Garnacho and Moises Caicedo will return to the Chelsea starting lineup when they host Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea will be eager to return to winning ways when they welcome Brentford to Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon. Liam Rosenior has no new issues to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
The English tactician has been sweating over the fitness of Malo Gusto, Reece James, Jamie Gittens, Cole Palmer, and Liam Delap, with the quintet recovering from minor issues. However, Levi Colwill (knee), Romeo Lavia (hamstring), and Dario Essugo (thigh) remain in the treatment room.
Additionally, Mykhailo Mudryk continues his suspension after failing a doping test over a year ago. However, there is some positive news, as Moises Caicedo is available after serving a suspension in the EFL Cup clash with Arsenal earlier this week. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Rosenior provided fitness updates on James, Palmer, Gittens, and Delap.
The Chelsea head coach said, “With Reece and Cole, both of them are training today so we just need to assess them after training and make sure they come through all of the protocols they need to come through. But it will be great to have them back in the squad and at the moment, it looks like they could be.”
“Liam is still at home recovering at the moment, as is Jamie Gittens. Our club doctors are doing everything they can to contain what looks to be a virus, because some members of our staff have gone down with it as well. We had a meeting today with the players about the basics such as washing their hands because it is really important and hopefully we can contain it. We have a busy period, so we need everyone ready to go, fit and healthy.”
Rosenior also provided a fitness update on Romeo Lavia, who has been working behind the scenes to recover from a long-term hamstring injury. The Chelsea boss said, “Romeo is on the pitch, he’s not with the group yet but we can see him out on the grass doing his rehab. He is looking really, really good.”
Robert Sanchez is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Brentford on Saturday. The backline will feature Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, and Marc Cucurella.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, with Cole Palmer reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Joao Pedro will lead the line for the home side against Brentford, with Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto being the two wide attackers. So, Estevao Willian and Andrey Santos will be among the backup options on the bench for the Blues.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; Pedro