Thomas Tuchel has made four changes to his Chelsea side for this evening's Premier League clash against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge – the most surprising of which sees Malang Sarr return to the left of the Blues' back three at the expense of Antonio Rudiger.
Chelsea head into tonight's contest fully confident, having booked their place in the FA Cup final on Sunday. In contrast, the Gunners have suffered back-to-back defeats in the Premier League and have thrown their chances of finishing in the top four and securing Champions League football for next season into doubt.
Victory for Mikel Arteta's side at Stamford Bridge is imperative. Yet it won't be easy given the Chelsea team picked by Tuchel contains several players who have hit top form in recent matches. In goal remains Edouard Mendy, and the Senegal international is likely to keep his spot for the remainder of the campaign, as the Blues head coach explained during his pre-match press conference.
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Reece James is once again in the starting XI and may continue on the right of the back three. Andreas Christensen continues in the centre instead of Thiago Silva, and Sarr has come in for Rudiger, who did pick up a knock in the latter stages of the FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace and is not in the squad.
Cesar Azpilicueta keeps his spot, and if James is at the right centre-back, the Spaniard will take up the right wing-back role once again. On the opposite flank is Marcos Alonso, who has finally rediscovered form after a difficult period after Ben Chilwell was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.
Mateo Kovacic is absent with an ankle ligament injury, and after his below-par performance at Wembley, Jorginho also is taken out of the side. In midfield is Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who scored against Palace at the weekend, and a fresh N'Golo Kante as the Frenchman only played the final seven minutes on Sunday.
Mason Mount keeps his spot and will be looking to continue his recent fine form; the England international has four goals and two assists in his last three games. Timo Werner also starts once more as his resurgence continues, and he is expected to be deployed alongside Romelu Lukaku, who is handed a chance to impress by Tuchel against the Gunners, the side he dominated on his second Blues debut.
Chelsea: Mendy; James, Christensen, Sarr; Azpilicueta, Loftus-Cheek, Kante, Alonso; Mount, Lukaku, Werner
Chelsea substitutes: Kepa, Chalobah, Silva, Jorginho, Saul, Barkley, Havertz, Pulisic, Ziyech
