Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has some big decisions to be made ahead of this afternoon's Premier League meeting with Brentford. The Blues will be determined to continue their recent momentum with the two-week international break now over.
In Friday afternoon's pre-match press conference, Tuchel confirmed Reece James is in contention to play as he has now recovered from a muscular injury. However, the Chelsea boss confirmed that Christian Pulisic is yet to train after returning from international duty with the USA, meaning the American could be missing this afternoon.
"For Christian, we have to decide. He didn't train today. We gave him a recovery session," Tuchel said on Friday. "He was here but very tired with the jet lag and time difference. So we have to figure out of it makes sense to play him tomorrow and for how many minutes."
READ MORE: Every word Thomas Tuchel said on Chelsea takeover, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Pulisic, Silva and more
Fortunately for Chelsea and Tuchel, they are not short of options when it comes to the attacking department. The likes of Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Mason Mount will also be vying for a start against the Bees.
Tuchel will undoubtedly consider Wednesday evening's UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg against Real Madrid, so some of his key players could be rested against Brentford. With this said, football.london looks at two ways Tuchel could set up his team at Stamford Bridge.
Below is one possible option for Tuchel. This would see Kai Havertz play in the central striker position with Ziyech and Mount behind the German.
Tuchel, though, may be looking to rest Havertz considering his recent red-hot form with the bigger match coming a few days later against Real Madrid. So, below, is another option that would see the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner come into the team with Wednesday in mind.
The back-three is of course up for debate. Andreas Christensen is said to be in contention and has trained this week, but whether it's him or Cesar Azpilicueta who is given the nod in the right centre-back spot remains to be seen.
Likewise, it's unknown what Tuchel will do for the two central midfielders. It's likely to be two of Mateo Kovacic, N'Golo Kante or Jorginho. There's also a case of Ruben Loftus-Cheek coming into the XI with Wednesday being considered.
The official team news is set to be released an hour before kick-off at 2pm this afternoon. You can find out the confirmed XI as and when it arrives right here on football.london.
