Confirmed XIs: Kante missing for Chelsea as Man City make changes to defence

The big unexpected news ahead of the reigning champions’ clash with their soon-to-be successors is that N’Golo Kante misses out in midfield in a huge blow for the visitors.

The Frenchman is not in the squad due to illness and has been replaced by Danny Drinkwater in the starting XI, who will be making only his fifth Premier League start for the club.

For the hosts Fernandinho is still sidelined with a muscle injury and misses back-to-back league games for reasons other than suspension for the first time since January 2016. Ilkay Gundogan starts in his stead once more but City have dropped seven points in the eight games that he has started this season compared to just two in the 20 league games he has not.

There are two changes at the back with January signing Aymeric Laporte replacing Vincent Kompany and youngster Oleksandr Zinchenko coming in for Danilo.

Elsewhere Sergio Aguero starts for the eighth time in just 36 days, aiming to become the first ever Manchester City to score 200 goals for the club, currently just one shy of that milestone.

Chelsea’s striking options at present are far less promising and it’s perhaps no surprise that Alvaro Morata drops to the bench once more. Since the start of October he has picked up almost twice as many cards (9) as he has scored goals for Chelsea, last netting for the Blues on Boxing Day.

His replacement Pedro has had a significant impact on the side’s fortunes this season, winning just six of the 14 Premier League matches that he has not started this season, earning 2.3 points per game with him compared to just 1.5 when he isn’t in the first XI.

Meanwhile, the in-form Willian will be aiming to score for the fourth appearance running having opened the scoring against Hull, Barcelona and Manchester United in his last three. Moreover, a goal today would be a third in his last three starts against the league leaders.

At the back Antonio Rudiger gets the nod over Gary Cahill again, with Chelsea winning 72.2% of the league matches the German international has started this season compared to just 30% from the ten games he has not. Their win rate with Cahill starting (41.2%) is almost half what it is when he hasn’t been named in the XI (81.8%) by comparison.