Chelsea have just seven fixtures remaining, but the schedule remains relentless as ever as Thomas Tuchel and co travel to the North West to take on Manchester United on Thursday evening. The Blues will be hoping to end the season on a winning streak after quashing their run of home defeats following the international break with a late win over West Ham in the Premier League.
Chelsea's side has seen disruption in recent weeks with a number of injury concerns for Tuchel to contend with. Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Mateo Kovacic have all been absent at some stage over recent matches.
The German coach made four changes to his side ahead of Sunday's victory over the Irons, and Thursday could see a few more with Chelsea's remaining fixtures cast in stone and Tuchel able to plan the management of his squad more efficiently than in earlier moments of the season.
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November's draw against the Red Devils saw the likes of Kai Havertz, Cesar Azpilicueta and Mason Mount on the bench - unthinkable in recent weeks. Will they start on this occasion? It remains to be seen. football.london takes a look at three of the changes Tuchel could make for the trip to Old Trafford below:
Antonio Rudiger start
Along with discussing Rudiger's imminent departure from Stamford Bridge and life without the German international, Tuchel acknowledged that they were targetting the match against Ralf Rangnick's side for his return. Speaking after the match against West Ham, the 48-year-old said: "The injury of Toni, in one leg it's the groin and the other a bit the hamstring. He is somebody that plays through the pain and is used to it, but it's muscle pain and huge discomfort. He feels insecure because he is not used to having muscle injuries. So he feels like it could happen. He wants to come back, and the plan is he is back on Tuesday in training for Thursday [against Manchester United. Hopefully, we can stick to the plan."
The defender was among the stars photographed in Chelsea training at Cobham on Tuesday, which is a good indication he will return to the squad. The Blues star has rarely been rested and proved Tuchel's most irreplaceable charge in many respects. With Cesar Azpilicueta filling in on the left of the back three last time out, Rudiger is likely to return to his usual position.
Reece James start
Chelsea's star wing-back was a surprise omission from the squad to take on West Ham at Stamford Bridge. The 22-year-old has proved his importance both on the right flank and as a member of Tuchel's back three since returning from injury. While the former Wigan loanee's absence at the weekend is concerning, the Blues boss highlighted there was no new or returning injury that had been suffered.
He said: "Reece felt some discomfort in his hamstrings, and so he misses out today. It isn't a new injury or a recurrence of an old injury. We checked the medical images, and there is absolutely nothing, but he didn't feel totally comfortable. He felt like something could happen if he took that risk, and we absolutely do not want to have a reinjury, so we've taken the safe route today and left him out."
If rest has provided James with sufficient confidence to return to action, he could head straight back into the XI. Tuchel has hinted a place in the back three is more adept to managing the England international's fitness. Trevoh Chalobah's performance against the Hammers could see him worth another start, however, whereas James will be a more natural fit at wing-back in comparison to Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Christian Pulisic start
Both Cesar Azpilicueta and Thomas Tuchel have acknowledged the work Pulisic has put in during training of late, and his match-winning goal was an ideal way to show he was up to speed following a difficult return from the international break.
Timo Werner's form since netting against Southampton earned his place in the starting XI, but with Tuchel highlighting the importance of Pulisic's impact, perhaps that could be set to chance. The German coach said: "He had a period when he was on a run, had the confidence, was heavily involved upfront and Timo (Werner) had to wait for many, many weeks. Now things turned around a little bit from the Southampton game.
"Puli struggled a little bit since coming back from the international break where he had three matches, an incredible amount of joineries and timezones to cope with. From there, he struggled energy-wise. This was my impression, on and off the pitch. It's sometimes like this. Now we have tried to bring him back in full confidence from the bench, and I am happy with the effort today and I am happy he had the chance to have this big impact with Romelu and Hakim. It was super important."
