This week, Chelsea return to Premier League action when they face West Brom at the Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon. Having beaten Manchester United 1-0 last time out, Antonio Conte can look to build on that performance.
One or two questions remain for the Italian, ahead the game, regarding team selection. With some the squad on international duty, and a game left to play, we`ll have to cross our fingers that they return to Cobham safely.
Eden Hazard trained alone away from the main Belgian squad yesterday, having picked up an unspecified knock in their previous game. Likewise, Gary Cahill also missed England training for the same reason. Hopefully both these are minor and they missed training as a precaution.
Meanwhile, back at Cobham, at good deal of the squad have remained there after not being picked for international duties. The break has not been trouble free though. Out-of-favour David Luiz picked up a knock and Tiemoue Bakayoko was helped off the field by the Chelsea physios having gone down clutching his knee. Baka had an operation on his knee during the summer, that, delayed his debut for Chelsea. It`s believed that both Luiz and Bakayoko will be available for selection on Saturday. Whether Luiz plays though will down to his relationship with Antonio Conte.
On a positive note, both N`golo Kante and Victor Moses are getting back to full fitness. Kante returned against United and proved how badly Chelsea`s midfield needed him. With a couple of weeks recuperation under his belt, he should be good to go again against the baggies. The latter has taken to Instagram to show himself training outside, Moses has also been a big loss following his injury, he`s made that right-wing back position his own under Antonio Conte`s management,
Chelsea are in a position to gain second place in the league should either Man Utd or Tottenham slip up. If you consider the first game of the season against Burnley and the loss at Crystal Palace, we ought to be sitting comfortably in second place were it not for those freak results. No disrespect to those two sides but they are games that Chelsea should have won.
At the weekend Tottenham travel to North London rivals Arsenal for a Saturday lunchtime game and in the evening United are at home to Newcastle United. Runaway league leaders Manchester City face a trip to Leicester City as they look to maintain their dominance. Chelsea`s game kicks off at 3pm.