Chelsea are undergoing their first blip of the season and the Blues will be hoping they can return to winning ways against Leeds on Saturday.
Thomas Tuchel’s men drew their Champions League clash in midweek, meaning they finished second in their group and could face giants Bayern Munich or Real Madrid in the last 16 of the competition.
This came after a defeat to West Ham, which saw the Blues drop to third in the Premier League table with Manchester City and Liverpool both ahead of them.
Their drop off in form has coincided with several key injuries, with at least five first team players ruled out at the moment.
A victory is sorely needed for Chelsea when they take on Leeds at Stamford Bridge – and you can follow all the action live on talkSPORT 2 at 2.30pm.
But what is the injury news and how could the Blues line-up?
Tuchel confirmed that Jorginho will play through the pain of an ongoing back problem to ease Chelsea’s midfield injury crisis.
The Italy star missed Wednesday’s 3-3 Champions League draw at Zenit due to continued back trouble but will grit his teeth and return to the XI for the Premier League clash.
N’Golo Kante remains sidelined with a knee problem, while Mateo Kovacic must continue isolating after testing positive for Covid-19.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek also missed the Zenit encounter but could return to take on Leeds and should pair up with Jorginho if fit enough to feature.
“Jorginho completed the last two training sessions,” said Tuchel. “And I think he will do again what he did in the last few games he has played – play through the pain and do what’s needed to be on the pitch.”
Trevoh Chalobah remains out of action due to a hamstring injury, with Ben Chilwell a longer-term absentee due to knee ligament damage.
Reece James deputised in defensive midfield in Russia, with Saul Niguez trialled at left wing-back as Tuchel took a rare chance to experiment, with knockout qualification secured in advance of the Zenit clash.
Blues boss Tuchel confirmed, however, that Jorginho’s availability will allow England star James the chance to shift back to his regular right wing-back role.
“Reecey will start as a wing-back, and we will find other formations elsewhere,” said Tuchel. “If something should happen to Jorgi for example at the hotel before tomorrow then we would need a solution, so we wanted to see Reece there in real life and to try Saul in a new position as well.
“But there’s no need tomorrow to try these things.”
So how could Chelsea line-up?
Saul will likely be relegated to the bench following another poor showing in midweek, with Jorginho and Loftus-Cheek will probably partner up in the middle of the park.
Lukaku got off the mark for the first time since returning from injury and he may lead the line with Werner on the left-flank.
The German will be preferred to his compatriot Kai Havertz, who is still recovering after picking up a knock against West Ham last Saturday.
Mount will occupy the other flank but the Blues have a wealth of options in offence, so Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech could also be given run-outs against the Whites.
