John Terry returns to contention for Chelsea
Chelsea is able to call upon the leadership qualities of John Terry for Saturday's weekend curtain-raiser against Leicester City.
The veteran skipper has been sidelined with a foot-ligament injury for the last four competitive outings despite being initially expected to miss just half of that workload. In that spell, the Blues edged out an extra-time win over Leicester in the League Cup and managed a return of just three points from a possible nine in the Premier League.
Manager Antonio Conte confirmed Terry's availability during Friday's pre-match press conference, before adding: "I prefer not to give away the lineup. I'll try to take the best decision for the team."
The two top-flight losses in Terry's absence - deserved defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal - were particularly damaging to the club's title credentials, and against reigning champion Leicester, Conte has a vital cog of his attack missing in Willian after the tragic loss of his mother.
Conte: 'We are very sad for Willian, our prayers are with him and his family.'
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 14, 2016
Due to Willian's loss and in what might necessitate a switch in formation for the Italian gaffer, Michy Batshuayi could finally earn his first league start for the club after his summer move from Marseille.
"Batshuayi is a young player with great potential in the technical and physical aspect," said Conte. "He's ready to play from the start."
In the two meetings between Chelsea and Leicester last season, the latter took a greater share of the spoils, beating the Blues last December to engineer Jose Mourinho's firing before drawing at Stamford Bridge in the final match of the 2015-16 campaign.