The Blues are going into the game against West Ham, with Antonio Conte still undecided over his best formation – whether it is the 4-3-3 or the 4-2-2-2, with Brazilian midfielder Oscar recently having declared his preference for the 4-3-3 formation earlier this week.
Chelsea have made some significant movements in the transfer window following the captures of young Belgium forward Michy Batshuayi and industrious French midfielder N’Golo Kante, but their search for defensive reinforcements continues – with their pursuit of Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly proving to be unproductive thus far.
West Ham has already played their first competitive games this season, as they beat Slovenian side MK Domzale over two legs, most notably winning the second leg 3-0 in their inaugural match at the new London Stadium.
The Hammers have also been busy in the transfer market – securing the club record signing of Andre Ayew for £20.5million. They have made further additions during the off-season – with the captures of Sofiane Feghouli, Gokhan Tore, Manuel Lanzini, Arthur Masuaku, Ashley Fletcher and Havard Nordtveit. Whilst the £10million sale of James Tomkins was the only high-profile departure from the club – with a £15million deal for Diafra Sakho to move to West Brom fell through.
Chelsea’s only fresh injury concern is John Terry, who came off against Werder Bremen with a head injury – but otherwise, Antonio Conte has a fully fit squad to pick from.
West Ham, meanwhile has seen English left-back Aaron Cresswell ruled out for up to three months – with new signing Masuaku being brought in to take his place. They will also be missing diminutive midfielder Lanzini and former West Brom target Diafra is out with a back injury.
However, former Chelsea youngster and new signing, Tore, has recovered from his injury worries and will be in contention to feature for the visitors.
The game will be shown live on Sky Sports 1, in what will be this season’s first Monday Night Football of the season.
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