Chelsea manager Graham Potter will want to prove his side have turned a corner this season when they face Everton at the weekend. The Blues have struggled so far this Premier League campaign, sitting in mid-table and 11 points away from Champions League qualification with 12 games to go.
It means the side will have to make up nearly one point on the top four every game, while also overcoming six sides to break into the qualification places. It's unlikely, but not impossible while other sides continue to have inconsistent results and performances every other week.
It will rely on the west London outfit continuing their winning run that has seen them pick up three victories on the spin to ease the pressure on Potter. Adding to that is the concerns over injuries fading from the side after a chaotic few months that saw almost a full eleven on the treatment table.
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However the likes of Reece James, Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling returning to action has been timely for the run ahead of them. There is still one key player set for a place back in the team and that's midfield star N'Golo Kante, who will hope to have shaken off the issues that have kept him out for nearly 300 days of action.
The Frenchman has been key to the side since signing from Leicester in 2017, but the growing list of games missed have caused a concern. Should he make his return against Everton this weekend, Kante may find himself next to a new midfield partner that may be the dream for Todd Boehly and his manager Potter.
The experienced winner could be starting alongside Enzo Fernandez, who at just 21 years old is a fellow World Cup winner and has plenty of promise for the future. The Blues paid a British transfer record fee to land the Argentina international in January, but he has already shown exactly why the large amount was paid.
"He's a fantastic player, a young player," Potter said on Fernandez after the win over Leicester last week. "I think he's going to get better and better when he's with us more. He's just arrived to a new country and a new league so you always have to adapt to that. You can see his quality, when he gets the ball he passes forward. He sees everything."
With Kante's energy alongside him, it could paint a picture of the future of Chelsea's midfield if the former Leicester midfielder signs a new contract in the coming months.
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