Mateo Kovacic is set to come in for Kai Havertz while Reece James will miss out when Chelsea welcome West Ham United to Stamford Bridge on Monday.
Chelsea will be eager to arrest their slide down the Premier League table when they play hosts to West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on Monday night. And, Frank Lampard has a fresh injury concern to contend with ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Reece James is set to miss out against West Ham due to issues with his troublesome right knee. Early reports this past weekend suggested that the English international could be in need of a surgery, but as per the latest update, an operation is only likely to be a last resort following the results of his scan.
Lampard is now set to rest James for a few games in the hopes that his knee complaint gets sorted out. Otherwise, the Chelsea boss has a fully fit squad at his disposal, with Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi recovering from their respective hamstring injuries.
During his pre-match press conference, Lampard did provide an update on the duo, who are highly unlikely to start considering the type of injury they have recovered from. The Chelsea manager said, “It is their first day back with the group today training at a decent level, so I will have to see how they are the next two or three days to see if they make West Ham.”
With Ziyech and Hudson-Odoi only likely to be second half substitutes at best, Christian Pulisic and Timo Werner will continue as the two wide men for Chelsea, despite the latter’s poor form. Olivier Giroud should also retain his spot as the central striker against West Ham, meaning Tammy Abraham will once again be an option off the bench. 
In midfield, a solitary change could be in the offing after a couple of underwhelming performances by Kai Havertz. The German international could make way for Mateo Kovacic, who will join N’Golo Kante and Mason Mount in the middle of the park, meaning Jorginho misses out again.
Meanwhile, James’s expected absence means Cesar Azpilicueta will make a rare Premier League start on Monday against West Ham. The rest of the backline should be unchanged, meaning the Chelsea captain will join Kurt Zouma, Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell in defence. Finally, there is no looking past Edouard Mendy in goal.
Chelsea Predicted XI: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Kovacic, Kante, Mount; Pulisic, Giroud, Werner
