Graham Potter has made six changes to his side to face Southampton at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League today, including handing a striker his full Chelsea debut.
Chelsea vs Southampton lineups
That first Chelsea start comes for David Fofana, who joined the club from Molde in January and comes into the side in place of Kai Havertz, having previously made two substitute appearances for the Blues. He will be supported by Joao Felix.
The other big news is the return to the starting line-up of Mateo Kovacic in midfield, replacing Ruben Loftus-Cheek for his first start since the trip to Fulham over a month ago, following injury. He will join Enzo Fernandez in midfield.
It is all change on the flanks, as Noni Madueke and Mason Mount replace Mykhailo Mudryk and Hakim Ziyech.
Kepa Arrizabalaga continues as goalkeeper, with Ben Chilwell and Kalidou Koulibaly retaining their places in our defence ahead of him, but Cesar Azpilicueta and Benoit Badiashile replace Reece James and Thiago Silva beside them, the Spaniard captaining the side.
Wesley Fofana, Raheem Sterling and Denis Zakaria are all included among the Chelsea substitutes as they continue their own recoveries from injury.
The Chelsea players will be wearing black armbands for today’s match against Southampton, in memory of former Blues winger Christian Atsu, who has been confirmed as one of the many victims of the dreadful earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Southampton’s interim manager Ruben Selles makes three changes to their team for the first game of his second caretaker spell at the helm this season, following the departure of Nathan Jones. They see Armel Bella-Kotchap come in at centre-back, along with attacking midfielders Stuart Armstrong and Mohamed Elyounoussi returning for the Saints.
Chelsea: Kepa, Azpilicueta (c), Koulibaly, Badiashile, Chilwell, Enzo, Kovacic, Madueke, Joao Felix, Mount, D Fofana
Substitutes: Bettinelli, Chalobah, W Fofana, Hall, Gallagher, Zakaria, Mudryk, Sterling, Havertz
Southampton: Bazunu, Maitland-Niles, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Perraud, Ward-Prowse (c), Lavia, Sulemana, S Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Onuachu
Substitutes: Caballero, Lyanco, Walker-Peters, Alcaraz, Diallo, Djenepo, Walcott, A Armstrong, Mara
Referee: David Coote