The first match of Gameweek 4 brings a big casualty for FPL bosses as Reece James (£5.1m) finds himself on the Chelsea bench.
He is joined there by Mason Mount (£6.9m), who is also dropped from Frank Lampard’s XI, and injury returnee Christian Pulisic (£8.3m).
Timo Werner (£9.4m) is again stationed on the left flank of the Blues’ attacking midfield three, with Tammy Abraham (£7.3m) leading the line.
New goalkeeper Edouard Mendy (£5.0m) takes over between the sticks after making his debut in midweek, while ex-Leicester defender Ben Chilwell (£5.5m) makes his first league appearance at left-back.
Captain Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.9m) slots in at right-back, putting the 16.4%-owned James out of the side.
Crystal Palace remain unchanged from their 2-1 defeat to Everton in Gameweek 3. Michy Batshuayi (£5.8m) is ineligible to face his parent club.
As Lampard revealed in his pre-match press conference yesterday, Pulisic is part of Chelsea’s matchday 18 but Hakim Ziyech (£7.9m) remains sidelined.
Pulisic is in the squad for tomorrow. He won’t start, it’s great to have him back. Ziyech is getting closer but not close enough to be on the bench. I think they will all bring the best out of each other.
It’s a shame we haven’t had them. Hakim will bring something completely different for us. I am very excited to have them fit. I have a clear idea of where I want them to play.
The Blues boss was also honest in his assessment of Chelsea’s centre-back situation and has duly replaced Andreas Christensen (£4.9m) with Kurt Zouma (£5.0m) for this afternoon’s clash at Stamford Bridge – one of six changes in the Chelsea line-up.
That leaves Thiago Silva (£5.5m) as the only retained member of the backline which shipped three goals to West Brom last weekend.
“Most coaches will tell you that you can find a pretty settled back two, you strive for it but it’s hard. Last year we had to change a lot, this year will likely be the same.” – Frank Lampard
Roy Hodgson, meanwhile, is hoping a host of senior players will soon be available for selection:
This week we’ve seen the re-emergence of Gary Cahill (£4.5m), James Tomkins (£4.5m) and Patrick van Aanholt (£5.4m). They’re gradually coming back but obviously they’ve been out for a long time so they’re not really ready to go straight back into the team.
We’re limiting the contact work as far as he [Van Aanholt] is concerned as it’s a shoulder injury but it’s good to see those guys back in training.
And we’re hoping we might get [Jeffrey Schlupp (£5.5m)] back in the next few weeks with the international break.
Wilfried Zaha (£7.2m) is again part of a two-man forward line for the Eagles, while Tyrick Mitchell (£4.1m) continues to provide value in the budget defender bracket.
Chelsea XI (4-2-3-1): E Mendy; Chilwell, Zouma, T Silva, Azpilicueta; Jorginho, Kanté; Werner, Havertz, Hudson-Odoi; Abraham.
Crystal Palace XI (4-4-2): Guaita; Mitchell, Sakho, Kouyaté, J Ward; Eze, McArthur, McCarthy, Townsend; Zaha, Ayew.
3 years, 6 months agoI've got a ML rival pining because he's got Jorg and Zouma 2nd and 3rd on his bench. What was he thinking???