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Football London
Football London
Sport
Adam Newson

Confirmed Chelsea side vs Leicester: N'Golo Kante and Hakim Ziyech return, Romelu Lukaku starts

Thomas Tuchel has made two changes to his Chelsea side for this evening's Premier League clash against Leicester City at Stamford Bridge – the most high profile of which is N'Golo Kante returning to the starting XI for the first time since the draw against Manchester United.

There isn't a huge deal riding on tonight's contest, as Chelsea's place in the top four was secured on Monday night when Arsenal were defeated by Newcastle United. Third place does remain up for grabs, but a single point from the Blues' remaining two fixtures will be enough to see off a late challenge from Tottenham.

Ahead of the game, Tuchel suggested he could rotate his side for the visit of the Foxes. Instead, he has gone with a very strong starting XI. Edouard Mendy keeps his place in goal, and the back three is the same that kept a clean sheet in the FA Cup final against Liverpool: Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger.

READ MORE: Chelsea vs Leicester City LIVE –kick-off time, tv channel, team news, live stream details

When Chelsea faced Leicester City last season, Tuchel opted to deploy Reece James at centre-back to negate the threat of Jamie Vardy. However, the academy graduate will line up in his usual right wing-back spot, with Marcos Alonso once again on the opposite flank.

Kante has struggled with injury since the start of May and was only introduced in the second period at Wembley on Saturday. Yet he is back in the side and will partner with Jorginho.

There is one alteration to the Chelsea attack with Mason Mount, who missed a crucial penalty in the shootout against Liverpool, dropping out of the side. He is replaced by Hakim Ziyech. Romelu Lukaku keeps his place at the point of the Blues' frontline, and Christian Pulisic starts once more on the left.

Chelsea: Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger; James, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso; Ziyech, Lukaku, Pulisic

Chelsea substitutes: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Kenedy, Sarr, Loftus-Cheek, Saul, Barkley, Mount, Havertz

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