Chelsea are back in Premier League action when they host Everton at Stamford Bridge, with Maurizio Sarri expected to heavily rotate his squad following the midweek win over BATE Borisov.
The 1-0 victory, thanks to Olivier Giroud’s second-half header, has secured the Blues’ spot in the last 32 of the Europa League and maintained their unbeaten start to the season.Chelsea are now the only team across Europe’s top five divisions yet to lose a match in all competitions so far during the 2018/19 campaign.
The Belgian forward missed three matches after suffering a back problem during the 2-2 draw with Manchester United. However, he stepped up his recovery with a cameo off the bench against Crystal Palace before playing just over an hour against BATE.
Sarri now has to decide whether to risk his star player over the full 90 minutes against an Everton side looking to build on their 3-1 win over Brighton. Willian and Pedro will compete for a starting berth on the opposite flank while Alvaro Morata was rested on Thursday and should replace Giroud.
The Spanish striker now has four goals in his past four matches after struggling during the early stages of the campaign. Cesc Fabregas is doubtful due to illness but Mateo Kovacic is pushing for a start after being left out of the past two starting XIs.
The Croatian faces competition from Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek for the third midfield spot alongside Jorginho and N’Golo Kante. Meanwhile, an entirely changed back four will be rotated in with Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger and Marcos Alonso all returning.
