Predicted XI: How Chelsea will line up against West Brom on Saturday

By Eetu Ikola - 16th Nov 2017, 04:05pm

The Premier League is finally back! After yet another eventful international break the sights can be turned back to club football and, most importantly, Chelsea.

The Blues are set to kick off a run of three successive away games, with a visit to The Hawthornes the fixture to begin with. Last time we traveled there we came out with three points and the league title, so how about this time then?

Antonio Conte has had a lot of time to form up his team plans ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League return, but has most definitely had to reshuffle them following the amount of injury news during this break. Gary Cahill missed both of England’s games due to an injury, while Tiemoue Bakayoko, Eden Hazard and David Luiz are all slight doubts for Saturday. Meanwhile Michy Batshuayi joins Victor Moses on the serious injury-list as the Belgian forward broke his foot during the national team training.

But how will the rest of the team line up tomorrow? Here’s our predicted line-up for the game…

Goalkeeper:

Thibaut Courtois – Will remain between the sticks on Saturday. Played the whole 90 minutes in Belgium’s 3-3 draw with Mexico.

Defence:

Cesar Azpilicueta – Wasn’t called up to Spain’s national team this time, which means he’s fully charged for this weekend’s vital league clash.

David Luiz – Denmark’s Andreas Christensen enjoyed a terrific international break as he was the first goal-scorer in the Scandinavians’ 5-1 trashing over Ireland in the World Cup Qualifying play-offs. He is in contention to start again on Saturday, for sure, but if Luiz has successfully impressed the boss at Cobham after being dropped against Manchester United, he might get the nod ahead of Christensen on Saturday.

Gary Cahill – Despite his injury worries during the break, Cahill is reportedly fully fit to face WBA. That makes him a very likely starter.

Midfield:

Davide Zappacosta – With Moses out and Azpilicueta predicted to start as a centre-back, Zappacosta is the number one choice to fill the right wing-back’s role.

Tiemoue Bakayoko – Did very well against United last time out. Should be fully fit following his slight injury concerns and in contention to start in the deep midfield role.

N’Golo Kante – The Frenchman was luckily not included in Didier Deschamps’ national team set-up this break. Kante made his return from a serious hamstring injury against United two weeks ago and really needed the rest. Great to have him fit again!

Cesc Fabgreas – The Spain international was named Man of the Match against United and is unlikely to be dropped from the starting line-up. Creativity will be needed to break down WBA’s tight defence on Saturday, and there’s no one better than Cesc delivering exactly that for us.

Marcos Alonso – Will most definitely remain in the starting line-up despite Kenedy’s impressive displays in the Chelsea training this week.

Attack:

Eden Hazard – The Chelsea star suffered a few knocks in Belgium’s 3-3 draw against Mexico where the winger also scored the opening goal of the game. However, he should be fit to face Saturday.

Alvaro Morata – Now that Batshuayi is ruled out, Morata should be a definite starter. Scored once on his 45 minute cameo in Spain’s 5-0 win over Costa Rica and is determined to keep up his goal-scoring run going after his winning strike against United as well.