The Premier League title race is on! Ahead of the London derby against Brentford FC, Chelsea sit just four points behind league leading Liverpool, who still have a game in hand on the Blues.
Arsenal are two points behind Chelsea, so perhaps they will get it on this title chase party too.
Chelsea FC at Brentford FC FYIs
Kickoff: Sun. Dec. 15, 7pm, Stamford Bridge, London, UK
PL Position, Form: Chelsea 2nd 31 pts, DWWWW Brentford 9th, 23 pts, WDWLW
Result Probability: Chelsea 73% Draw 15% Brentford 12%
Full Fitness/Injury Report
There are no real major changes here at all. Pedro Neto is suspended while Reece James, Wesley Fofana and Omari Kellyman (who wouldn’t even feature here anyway, even if he were healthy) all remain out as long-term injury absentees.
And that has been a big part of why the southwest London club has had such fine form lately, and enjoyed a season of mostly great results. With a squad that has been more close to fully fit, for most of this season so far, first year manager Enzo Maresca has had a lot more depth to work with.
Starting XI Prediction
Robert Sanchez; Moises Caicedo, Benoit Badiashile, Marc Cucurella; Romeo Lavia, Enzo Fernandez; Jadon Sancho, Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku; Nicolas Jackson
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.