The final Premier League fixture before Christmas is a London derby at Stamford Bridge.
Bringing Gameweek 14 to a close, Chelsea v West Ham United kicks off at 20:00 GMT.
The Blues will be without Reece James (£5.3m), with the widespread media reports that hinted at his possible, injury-enforced absence proving to be accurate.
The long-serving Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.6m) comes in at right-back and is one of three changes that Frank Lampard has made from Gameweek 13, with Jorginho (£4.8m) and Tammy Abraham (£8.2m) replacing the benched Kai Havertz (£8.2m) and Olivier Giroud (£6.7m).
Speaking of those last two changes ahead of kick-off, Lampard said:
It’s just a rotation and looking at different attributes of players against the opposition.
With Tammy, some energy in the team from the front. Oli’s been fantastic and can come in from the bench.
With Kai, similarly. I’ve got midfield players who are competing, I have to have a good level of competition. Nothing against Kai, he’s finding his feet and he will find his feet.
There is still no Hakim Ziyech (£8.1m) in the Chelsea squad despite the Moroccan returning to training at the back-end of last week but another recent absentee, Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.7m), is on the bench.
West Ham have their own injury problems, with Michail Antonio (£6.2m) absent yet again because of a hamstring problem.
David Moyes said of the forward ahead of the match:
He’s getting closer but not ready for the game. He’s a big miss for us, undoubtedly, but hopefully, we’ll get him back soon.
Manuel Lanzini (£6.4m) misses out with a similar issue.
Fabian Balbuena (£4.5m) has recovered from a minor groin problem to start, at least, with the Paraguayan ousting Issa Diop (£4.3m) from the Hammers’ starting XI.
Mark Noble (£4.6m) also makes his first start in the Premier League since September as Moyes looks to bolster his midfield for this tricky away trip.
Said Benrahma (£6.0m) is the man to make way to accommodate the West Ham skipper.
Chelsea XI: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Thiago Silva, Chilwell, Jorginho, Kante, Mount, Werner, Abraham, Pulisic.
West Ham XI: Fabianski, Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Noble, Fornals, Haller.
Lessons learned from FPL Gameweek 14
- Crystal Palace 0-7 Liverpool
- Southampton 0-1 Manchester City
- Everton 2-1 Arsenal
- Newcastle United 1-1 Fulham
- Brighton and Hove Albion 1-1 Sheffield United
- Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Leicester City
- Manchester United 6-2 Leeds United
- West Bromwich Albion 0-3 Aston Villa
- Burnley 2-1 Wolves
- Chelsea 3-0 West Ham United
3 years, 4 months agoHello guys, Im planning my future transfers in preparation fro BGW 18. I have FH, TC, and will have the 2nd WC available by then. I would like to save my second WC and only play my FH chip in DGW 19.
Current team
Martinez* Steer
Chilwell Reece Lamptey* Taylor Mitchel*
GroB* Salah Bruno Son* Grealish*
Kane* Bamford Wilson*
* = Players that have a match on BGW18 = Total of 8
This week planned transfers are:
Chilwell and Reece to Walker and Dier = 2 additional with goo fixtures and play on BGW18. Total = 10 players for BGW18
I will then use an additional transfer or 2 to get other assets, may do Salah/Bruni for KDB and then take a hit to bring them back.
With this plan, I dont have to use my second WC, and will FH on DGW 19. What are your thoughts? Good plan?