Chelsea predicted lineup vs Fulham - Pre-season friendly
- Chelsea face London rivals Fulham in Washington D.C.
- Nicolas Jackson has scored in two pre-season friendlies this summer
- Mauricio Pochettino is still trying to find his best team
By Euan Burns
Chelsea will be taking on Fulham this Sunday in their third game of the Premier League Summer Series in which they have already faced Brighton and Newcastle.
Fans out in Washington D.C. are going to be treated to a west London derby over in the USA and it is sure to be hotly contested. There has been plenty of drama at Fulham involving coach Marco Silva and striker Aleksandr Mitrovic, which Chelsea will look to take advantage of.
Chelsea have managed to score five times in the two games they have played in this pre-season tournament, and Mauricio Pochettino will be tasking even more of his team to find the back of the net next time out.
Here are the players that he is likely to pick for this match against Fulham.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Fulham (4-2-3-1)
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga - Pochettino has used Kepa in both friendlies so far and there is little reason to believe that will change when the Blues take on Fulham.
RB: Malo Gusto - Purely for the sake of rotation, it would not be a shock to see Pochettino hand Malo Gusto some minutes from the start against Fulham, having started Reece James in the last game against Newcastle.
CB: Trevoh Chalobah - It seems that there is scope for Trevoh Chalobah to have a serious role at Chelsea next season. Wesley Fofana's injury and Kalidou Koulibaly's departure means that Chelsea are light at the back.
CB: Thiago Silva - Having not started against Newcastle, don't be shocked to see Thiago Silva come into this one to build up his seemingly unlimited fitness.
LB: Marc Cucurella - It was a bad debut season at Chelsea for Cucurella but he is the sort of tireless and tenacious full-back that Pochettino should be able to get something out of.
CM: Enzo Fernandez - A player to build the team around, Pochettino will be wise to use Fernandez as much as possible during pre-season so that he can gel with as many players as possible ahead of the new season.
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CM: Carney Chukwuemeka - The youngster was on the bench against Newcastle so he could get some minutes from the start. He knows that any position is up for grabs in this Chelsea team at the moment and a big performance could go a long way.
RW: Andrey Santos - There are lots of players that could start in this position for Chelsea and Andrey Santos is one of them. Pochettino may hope a good performance leads to a loan offer for the Brazilian.
CAM: Christopher Nkunku - Much like Fernandez, Nkunku should be central to the project next season if he beds in well enough and the early signs in pre-season are very promising.
LW: Mykhailo Mudryk - With the fee and the expectation, Chelsea need to make a success out of Mudryk and Pochettino should give him minutes whenever he can to help make that happen.
ST: Nicolas Jackson - Pochettino likes to reward young players for their good work and Nicolas Jackson is staking a claim to be the main striker at Chelsea. He has scored twice in pre-season and should start here again.