Chelsea face a tough trip to the Brentford Community Stadium in the Saturday teatime kickoff. The Bees have already beaten Arsenal and drawn with Liverpool at home this season so the Blues will need to bring their ‘A’ game.
With players returning from all over the world after the international break, though, it will be a particularly challenging set of circumstances.
Thiago Silva won’t be available to play as Brazil face Uruguay early on Friday morning. Antonio Rudiger (back) and Romelu Lukaku (muscular) are major doubts, while Christian Pulisic (ankle) is unlikely to feature.
N’Golo Kante (virus) and Reece James (ankle) are, however, back in contention after returning to training with the first-team squad yesterday.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank is sweating over the fitness of Kristoffer Ajer (hamstring) and Vitaly Janelt (thigh), while Joshua Dasilva (hip), Mads Sorensen (knee) and Shandon Baptiste (shoulder) are all ruled out.
The bookmakers have made Chelsea strong favourites with Betfred pricing them at 8/13 odds-on for the win. A draw is 3/1 with Betway while a victory for the Bees is currently 11/2 at Paddy Power.
Predicted Score – 2-1 to Chelsea
