Romeo Lavia will return to the Chelsea starting lineup after a spell on the sidelines when they take on Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on Sunday.

Chelsea will have the opportunity to jump to third in the Premier League standings when they lock horns with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on Sunday afternoon. Enzo Maresca has no new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Instead, the Italian tactician has greeted a positive update on the team news front ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash. Marc Guiu has recovered from a hamstring injury and should be in contention to make the matchday squad on Sunday.

However, Christopher Nkunku, Wesley Fofana, and Aaron Anselmino remain on the sidelines. In addition, Mykhailo Mudryk continues to serve a suspension after failing a doping test a few months ago. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Maresca did not provide a fitness update on any players. However, the Italian tactician discussed the upcoming Premier League match.

The Chelsea manager said, “They are very aggressive, especially when we are on our side, they go man-to-man. When they are on their side, they are medium block, but physically they are very strong and aggressive. I hope [it brings out the best of us]. We have played teams who play low block and teams who try to be aggressive, we have had good games in both situations.”

“They have different kinds of players who are good players, but now we have Romeo [Lavia] back, Moi [Caicedo] and Enzo [Fernandez] are doing well, Cole [Palmer] is doing well. It will be a huge game. We are going to try to prepare the game in the best way, the way we think we can win, and hopefully at the end we can be happy with the result.”

Robert Sanchez will replace Filip Jorgensen between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Newcastle United on Sunday. The backline should feature Moises Caicedo, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, and Marc Cucurella, with Caicedo starting as a makeshift right-back.

As for the midfield unit, the fit-again Romeo Lavia should line up alongside Enzo Fernandez in the double pivot. Cole Palmer will reprise the no. 10 role, with Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto being the two wide attackers. Finally, Nicolas Jackson will lead the line for the away side against Newcastle United.

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