Reece James and Noni Madueke will return to the Chelsea starting lineup against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday.

Chelsea will aim to build on the win over Tottenham Hotspur earlier this week and remain in the top four when they lock horns with Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Enzo Maresca has new issues to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia have suffered muscle-related injuries that will keep them on the sidelines for the foreseeable future. The former has undergone successful surgery to correct his hamstring issue, which will keep him on the sidelines for the “coming weeks”.

In addition, Omari Kellyman will not play again this season due to his long-term hamstring injury. At the same time, Mykhailo Mudryk continues to serve a suspension after failing a drug test in December. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Maresca provided fitness updates on James, Fofana, and Lavia.

The Chelsea manager said, “Wes had a muscle problem a few days and we are waiting for more checks. For Sunday, Romeo is out. If you compare Romeo’s games this season to last season, he has already improved. But the target with Romeo is just to try to keep him fit as much as we can and play more games next season than this season.”

“We are trying to do the same with Reece (James), it’s not the same but a similar situation. Reece [against Tottenham was on the bench, he is one of our best players, but he was on the bench because he try to take care of him. We know that in this moment he can’t play every three days, hopefully soon he can, but the main target with him, Romeo and Wes is to keep them fit because we know how important they are for us.”

Robert Sanchez will take his spot between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Brentford on Sunday. The backline should feature Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, and Marc Cucurella, with James replacing Malo Gusto.

As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the double pivot. Cole Palmer will reprise the no. 10 role, but Noni Madueke will replace Jadon Sancho. Madueke will join Pedro Neto and Nicolas Jackson in the final third.

Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson