Chelsea are on the road to finish the year as they travel to Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Monday night.
Blues supporters were forced to endure the unfamiliar feeling of defeat on Boxing Day as Fulham secured their first win at Stamford Bridge since 1979 by virtue of Rodrigo Muniz’s last-gasp winner.
Chelsea’s performance and the subsequent result offered an explanation as to why Enzo Maresca has been keen to downplay his side’s title hopes. While that was their first league defeat since October, the west Londoners are now ten points behind league leaders Liverpool.
At the other end of the table, Ipswich face an uphill battle to remain in the division. Kieran McKenna’s side are likely to end 2024 in 19th having won just two league games upon their return to the top flight thus far.
The Tractor Boys barely laid a glove on Arsenal as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at the Emirates on Friday night. This will be their first meeting with Chelsea since 2011.
McKenna can welcome captain Sam Morsy back from suspension and he’ll likely return to Ipswich’s midfield pivot on Monday night, replacing Kalvin Phillips in the XI.
The hosts are set to be without Massimo Luongo again due to illness, while Axel Tuanzebe and Chiedozie Ogbene have been ruled out. Ogbene won’t play again this season due to a long-term knee injury.
George Hirst will be hoping to return from a knee issue in the new year, while Cieran Slicker is a doubt due to a muscle problem.
Maresca has the squad to rotate on Monday night, but some have posed the question as to whether the Italian trusts Chelsea’s fringe players. He only made one change during the Blues’ Boxing Day defeat.
Christopher Nkunku could replace Nicolas Jackson up top given the latter’s dip in form, while Joao Felix will be hoping for a bigger role on Monday having struggled to feature since he impressed at Southampton earlier this month.
Chelsea are without Mykhailo Mudryk following his positive drug test, while Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia and Carney Chukwuemeka are sidelined. Reece James is back in training and closing in on another comeback.
