I’d even argue that Chelsea should rest the players with injury doubts regardless, because they have some very strong backup options.
The Blues face Newcastle United on Saturday in the Premier League, but Frank Lampard is facing losing a number of key players through injury.
N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic are both a slight doubt, Andreas Christensen is unlikely to be fit, Antonio Rudiger is still not match fit and Emerson won’t be back just yet despite training yesterday, updates as provided by Simon Johnson of The Athletic yesterday.
And forgot to mention that Reece James is fine for the weekend…#cfc https://t.co/5pDeWcDx5C
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) October 16, 2019
some #cfc team news ahead of #nufc. @TheAthleticUK understands #Rudiger won't feature. He is fit again but club want to work on match fitness before he returns as he has missed so much football since April. Likely to play in development squad games coming up…
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) October 16, 2019
As Johnson reports, Reece James IS fit again for Chelsea, who also have the option of using the extremely talented Billy Gilmour.
Here is a look at the potential line up Lampard could still use even with resting the injury doubts, which would be wise.
(4-2-3-1) – Kepa, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Tomori, Alonso. Jorginho, James/Gilmour, Mount. Hudson-Odoi, Willian/Pulisic, Abraham.
or, (4-3-3) – Kepa, James, Zouma, Tomori, Alonso. Jorginho, Barkley, Mount. Hudson-Odoi, Willian/Pulisic, Abraham.
These are both pretty strong options, and there are more Lampard can use if he switches formations. It would certainly be wise to get these injured players back fully fit before taking any more risks.
