Andreas Christensen will be out for the next two weeks and Eden Hazard could retain his role as the False Nine as Chelsea face Leicester on Saturday.
Chelsea managed to survive the threat of Brighton and emerged with all three points, which was important after the 2-0 win over Manchester City. Now, Maurizio Sarri will hope to build momentum going into a flurry of fixtures during the festive period as Leicester City pay Stamford Bridge a visit.
In defence, Andreas Christensen is set to miss the festive period, something the manager confirmed in his pre-match conference. Gary Cahill is also struggling for match fitness, but with no injuries to his first-choice back four, Sarri will retain the services of Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso, with Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal for the hosts.
In midfield, N’Golo Kante and Jorginho are certain to return to the starting lineup after being rested against Bournemouth during the midweek. As far as the third spot is concerned, it will be down to Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ross Barkley and Mateo Kovacic, despite the trio having played and Sarri having Cesc Fabregas at his disposal.
In fairness, Kovacic could get the nod over others. In attack, Olivier Giroud is available but he played the full game during the midweek and is unlikely to start on Saturday. Alvaro Morata is back in training but will not be involved against Leicester, leaving Maurizio Sarri with little choice regarding the attack.
The manager highlighted the same during the pre-match conference.
“Giroud played 90 minutes three days ago and Morata started training with the group only yesterday after 10 days, so we will see in the last training session.”
“I don’t know because I was sure about the match against City, of course not the result, but that with Hazard in that position we could play a good match, I was quite sure. Then against Brighton I started to see this situation in different matches, now I want to see it in a home match against a team who are very compact with low density, we have to see.”
Willian and Pedro should be the wingers, with Eden Hazard being deployed in the False Nine role, something which has reprised successfully so far this season.
