Chelsea travels to Anfield on Sunday to face Liverpool, but Enzo Maresca’s plans have been disrupted by the suspension of key defenders Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana.
Both players accumulated five yellow cards in just seven Premier League games, forcing Maresca to reconfigure his defense.
The absence of Fofana and Cucurella, who have started every league game this season, will be deeply felt.
Summer signing Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi are contenders to replace Fofana at center-back.
Cucurella’s suspension could see Renato Veiga redeployed or Ben Chilwell making his first league appearance of the season.
Maresca also has the option of pushing Levi Colwill to left-back, but this would mean fielding an untested center-back pairing without Fofana.
Reece James returned to full training during the international break, but his inclusion in the matchday squad remains uncertain.
James has struggled with hamstring injuries and underwent surgery last season.
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Chelsea will likely take a cautious approach with their club captain, potentially limiting him to a bench role.
Meanwhile, Liverpool will be without star goalkeeper Alisson.
The Brazil international suffered a thigh injury during Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace and is expected to be sidelined until the end of next month.
Harvey Elliott remains out for several weeks due to a foot injury, but Federico Chiesa may return to the squad after struggling with fitness issues since joining from Juventus.
Chiesa opted out of international duty with Italy to focus on regaining full fitness.
Alexis Mac Allister, who was forced off during the win at Selhurst Park, joined the Argentina squad and started their 6-0 win over Bolivia after sitting out the meeting with Venezuela.
Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah returned to Merseyside early from international break.
Alisson’s absence presents a significant challenge for Liverpool, who will rely on Caoimhin Kelleher to fill the void.
The predicted Liverpool XI (4-2-3-1) lineup looks set to be:
Kelleher;
Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk; Robertson;
Gravenberch, Mac Allister;
Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz;
Jota
The predicted Chelsea XI (4-2-3-1) lineup looks set to be:
Sanchez;
Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Veiga;
Fernandez, Caicedo;
Madueke, Palmer, Sancho;
Jackson.
