Chelsea predicted lineup vs Bournemouth - Premier League
Chelsea welcome Bournemouth to Stamford Bridge for their first post-World Cup competitive fixture on Tuesday evening.
The last game Chelsea contested before a dozen members of the squad jetted off to the desert was a desperately bleak 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United. Graham Potter's side attempted just five shots that day, the club's lowest tally since January 2022 against the champions Manchester City.
Here's the lineup Potter may deploy to restart the campaign with a bit more thrust.
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Chelsea predicted lineup vs Bournemouth (3-4-3)
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga - Before injury sidelined the Spaniard in November, Kepa had usurped Edouard Mendy in the race for the number one jersey under Potter.
CB: Trevoh Chalobah - "Nothing's given," is a salient piece of advice Chalobah holds dear.
CB: Thiago Silva - Explaining his nickname as a kid, Silva said: “My childhood friends called me mouse because I would hardly leave the house.”
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly - A gentle giant, Koulibaly was the picture of politeness as a child as well. "If you go to the park and all the mothers are sitting around in the grass eating ice cream, you don’t go and kiss just your friend’s mother," he explained. "You go 'down the line'. You kiss every mother."
RWB: Reece James - Ten weeks after suffering the knee injury which would keep him out of the World Cup, James may be in line for his first Premier League start since September.
CM: Jorginho - The Italy international has made it abundantly clear that he has ambitions of staying at Chelsea beyond his existing deal. Contract negotiations would be accelerated if he stakes a claim for a starting berth.
CM: Ruben Loftus-Cheek - Roy Hodgson - Loftus-Cheek's manager while on loan at Crystal Palace - insisted the midfielder "just doesn’t have any weaknesses".
LWB: Marc Cucurella - The former Brighton fullback has lost his last four competitive appearances for Chelsea.
RW: Mason Mount - Gary O'Neil - Bournemouth's permanent manager and a former Portsmouth midfielder - was the first name Mount ever had on the back of a replica kit. Mount informed O'Neil of this fact when they met on the pitch playing for Derby and Bolton respectively. Mount scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 win.
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - The first memory Aubameyang can call upon is watching his father, Pierre-Francois, score a goal.
LW: Raheem Sterling - Across 12 career appearances against Bournemouth, Sterling has collected 12 wins and scored 11 goals.