Chelsea have two more defensive concerns to work around for their crunch match with Premier League title rivals Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Reece James and Andreas Christensen were both casualties of the 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion in midweek, with the former picking up a hamstring issue while Christensen came off with back pain.

Thomas Tuchel is also without long-term absentee Ben Chilwell as he prepares to undergo ACL surgery, while the veteran Thiago Silva is still uncertain due to his own thigh problem, despite returning to training.

Trevoh Chalobah is the most likely candidate to deputise for Christensen in the backline this weekend, with Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta joining the 22-year-old in front of Edouard Mendy.

Azpilicueta could deputise for James at right-wing back, but Tuchel may prefer Callum Hudson-Odoi's qualities in that area as Marcos Alonso returns on the left.

N'Golo Kante was fit enough to come off the bench against Brighton and could now partner Jorginho in the middle, with care still being taken over Mateo Kovacic's fitness.

Should Hudson-Odoi be shifted into a wing-back role, it would not be surprising to see Kai Havertz return to the forward line alongside Mason Mount, but Romelu Lukaku has made a rod for his own back with comments from an interview a few weeks ago and has reportedly been left out of the squad.

Chelsea possible starting lineup: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Rudiger; Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Kante, Alonso; Ziyech, Mount; Havertz

> Click here to see how Liverpool could line up for Sunday's game