Chelsea will travel to basement club Norwich City on Thursday evening hoping to make it four Premier League wins on the bounce.
The Blues thrashed Burnley 4-0 at Turf Moor last weekend to consolidate their third-place position on the table. Thomas Tuchel’s men not only registered their third successive league win last time out, but also their third successive Premier League clean sheet.
The west Londoners are back in good form and will enter the contest in midweek at Carrow Road as overwhelming favourites.
Chelsea Team News
Chelsea have received a double injury boost with Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta back in team training after missing the last couple of games due to a bout of Covid-19 and a knock respectively.
Callum Hudson-Odoi had missed the 4-0 win over Burnley with an Achilles problem but returned to training on Monday but the big blow for Thomas Tuchel will be another injury to Reece James who is likely to miss tomorrow’s fixture.
Ben Chilwell, meanwhile, is a long-term absentee for the Blues.
Predicted Chelsea Lineup vs Norwich City (3-4-2-1)
Goalkeeper
Edouard Mendy has kept back-to-back clean sheets in Chelsea’s Premier League wins over Crystal Palace and Burnley and will be eyeing to make it three in a row at Norwich City.
Defence
Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva are assured starters in the Blues backline and will feature once again if Tuchel decides not to rotate too heavily.
Trevoh Chalobah had a poor game by his standards against Burnley but was lucky to go unpunished. He could make way for Andreas Christensen on Thursday evening, as Thomas Tuchel’s side look to beat relegation-threatened Norwich City.
Midfield
Reece James has been fantastic since returning from injury of late. A superb showing against Burnley should have seen him keep his place at right wing-back in the Chelsea lineup but injury is likely to force him out with a fit-again Callum Hudson-Odoi expected to take his place.
Even though Marcos Alonso is back in training following a bout of Covid-19, Tuchel is expected to stick with Saul Niguez at left wing-back.
In midfield, N’Golo Kante could be given a breather, with Mateo Kovacic replacing the diminutive Frenchman. Kovacic’s tenacity and energy should complement Jorginho’s passing skills in the middle of the park for the west London outfit. They will look to take control of the game at Carrow Road as quickly as possible.
Attack
Kai Havertz has led a fluid Chelsea attack in recent times and delivered strong performances. He bagged a brace against Burnley and is a player brimming with confidence at the moment. The German will lead the Chelsea lineup once again.
Christian Pulisic had a good outing at Burnley last weekend, which could see him retain his place in the Chelsea lineup. The only change could be Hakim Ziyech replacing Mason Mount in the Blues attack. Ziyech has scored in his last three league appearances and deserves to start against an out-of-sorts Norwich side.