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How Chelsea could line up against Liverpool

Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Chelsea could line up for Thursday's Premier League visit to take on fellow top-four hopefuls Liverpool at Anfield.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has a number of selection dilemmas facing him for Thursday's trip to take on fellow top-four hopefuls Liverpool at Anfield.

Most of them are the type of headache a manager likes to have though, with Chelsea boasting a relatively clean bill of health in comparison to their injury-stricken hosts.

Thursday's match could come too soon for Thiago Silva, who is now back in training after a thigh injury, to start, but Callum Hudson-Odoi is available after coming off at half time against Manchester United and then being spotted with an ice pack on his knee.

Tuchel also revealed in his pre-match press conference that Tammy Abraham is suffering with an ankle problem and, having been omitted from the matchday squad entirely for the visit of Manchester United, he could be set to miss out again here.

Aside from that, Tuchel has a fully-fit squad to choose from and plenty of options at his disposal should he choose to chop and change his side in order to keep them fresh.

In addition to Abraham, big-money summer arrivals Timo Werner and Kai Havertz were also notably left on the bench for Sunday's match against Man United and will be knocking on the door for a return.

Whether the trio have fallen out of favour under Tuchel or if the German is just rotating his squad ahead of an important spell in three different competitions remains to be seen, and his selection at Anfield may provide a major hint to that.

Olivier Giroud will hope to keep his place having scored seven Premier League goals against Liverpool in the past, including four at Anfield, but a relatively unthreatening showing against Man United makes him one of many players whose position looks uncertain.

The unbeaten new manager is particularly spoilt for choice in the positions behind the striker, with Christian Pulisic, Havertz, Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Mason Mount among those pushing for inclusion.

Werner will hope to start against the club he was heavily linked with in the summer, but Tuchel has already revealed that he does not necessarily see the Germany international as an out-and-out striker and so he will likely be in support of either Abraham or Giroud if included.

Further back, the likes of Marcos Alonso, Kurt Zouma and Jorginho were on the bench against Man United having featured regularly under the new manager, while Reece James could come in at right wing-back despite Hudson-Odoi being passed fit.

Chelsea possible starting lineup: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; James, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso; Mount, Giroud, Werner

> Click here to see how Liverpool could line up for this contest



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Chelsea's Tammy Abraham goes off injured against Newcastle United on February 15, 2021
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


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