Chelsea returns to action this weekend when they make an across-the-streets trip to the 26,255 capacity Selhurst park to face Crystal palace in a London derby on Saturday.
It will be the first time the team is playing a competitive march after the 2-0 win over Arsene Wenger tutored Arsenal a fortnight ago. Majority of the player have not had time to celebrate the win which kept the club at the summit of the league table five points clear off the closest rival Manchester City as most of them travelled immediately to represent their various national sides during the international break.
There will be no time for formalities as the team gets back to training ahead the London encounter and Jose Mourinho will look to access each of the players to ascertain their level of their fitness and preparedness for this game.
Bearing any injury in mind as some of the players are still representing their countries as at the time of writing this article, we take a look at the probable line up Jose Mourinho might decide to go with against Neil Warnock Eagles.
- In Goal: Thibaut Courtios is set to return to man the sticks after being taking off in the Arsenal game. The young Belgian was taking off at the 24th minute in the game against Arsenal after being injures during a collision with Alexis Sanchez. The 22-year-old was replaced by veteran Chelsea keeper Petr Cech who put on a wonderful performance against the gunners.
Courtios however returned to action for Belgium in their game against Andorra after being clear by the doctors to play. He played the full 90minute of the game and showed no sign of illness. He is expected to be in goal when they take on Bosnia and Hezergovina later in the day. So expect Courtios to be in goal but this might not be good news to Cech who has played second fiddle and has threatened to get his position resolve as soon as possible.
- In Defence: Mourinho seems to have found the right balance in defence in recent games and its likely he continues with the same set of players he has used in Chelsea backline in the league this season. John Terry who has retired from international duty will have had enough rest and will be first on the line-up. Gary Cahill who represented England in their Euro 2016 qualifiers as well as Branislav Ivanovic and Azpilicueta will also take up their position in the line-up.
- In Midfield and Attack: Jose Mourinho seems to have also found his perfect combination in the holding midfield role with Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas combining well in all of their matches together. So, the two player will continue in as the pivot two with Febregas playing as the central midfielder linking the defence with the more advanced attacking midfielders.
There could be a change to the attacking three behind the strikers. With Eden Hazard currently nursing a toe injury that ruled him out of Belgium’s game against Andorra, Willian, Oscar and Andre Schurrle could be the players behind the main striker. Ramires has also returned from injury and could be used on the right flank. It is not known the extent of Hazard’s injury but if he is back and fit then Mourinho will definitely start him on the left side of the three-man attacking band behind the striker. Diego Costa capped his international week for Spain with a goal against Luxembourg and will have no problem keeping his place upfront.
Jose Mourinho has a full squad to choose from with no major injury worries but has shown in recent games that he almost got his preferred starting eleven. The only place we have often seen changes is in the three-man band behind the striker with the Willian for Schurrle or Schurrle for Willian changes and that could be the only area where the team might defer from the one that played Arsenal.
Probable Line-up •Courtios• Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta • Matic, Fabregas • Willian, Oscar, Schurrle • Costa
Substitutes: Cech, Zouma, Luis, Mikel, Ramires, Remy.