Chelsea have a stern test on their hands come Boxing Day with Thomas Tuchel’s men going up against Steven Gerrard’s high-flying Aston Villa at Villa Park.
The Blues secured a semi-final berth in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night courtesy of a 2-0 win away at Brentford.
Here is how Tuchel is expected to set up his Blues starting eleven for the outing against Aston Villa –
3-4-2-1
Tuchel will issue the recall to Edouard Mendy for the role between the goalposts with the first-choice stopper rested for the midweek cup game.
Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva should be in line to return to the starting team sheet with Trevoh Chalobah likely to retain his berth as Andreas Christensen is a concern on the injury front.
N’Golo Kante and Jorginho are expected to fill the vacancies in the heart of the midfield with Reece James and Marcos Alonso taking up the wing-back roles.
In the final third, Christian Pulisic is expected to operate as the focal striker with the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner sidelined due to COVID-19.
