Full Chelsea squad vs Wolves with three big calls to be made

One step forward and still several taken back for Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea. Even though results have just about stabilised following a rough period November and early December, there is still plenty of pressure on the Blues to inflict festive wounds on Wolves.

With the gap to ninth place Brighton already standing at five points heading into the game and eighth place Manchester United even further ahead, there is a need for Chelsea to pick up consistent results in the coming weeks. The fixture list has been kind to them over this period too.

Even though they are set to get two less days to prepare for the facing Crystal Palace on December 27 the upcoming opposition is much less scary on paper than it could have been. Pochettino, though, will argue that he is still working in far from ideal conditions as members of his squad continue to drop like flys.

Reece James is out for at least four months and possibly significantly more, there is no timeframe for the return of first choice goalkeeper Robert Sanchez while Ben Chilwell remains out. Carney Chukwuemeka hasn't played since the second week of the season, Trevoh Chalobah is nowhere to be seen and Marc Cucurella has also been put through a procedure that will see him out for the foreseeable.

Add to this the amount of question marks and it's easy to see why Pochettino may downplay the chances of his side making it a comfortable third win in a row on Sunday. Noni Madueke hasn't been in a matchday squad for three weeks, last starting a game on October 28, his fitness and match sharpness is unknown.

In a time whereby Enzo Fernandez has also been sidelined there are a lack of fully fit senior midfielders to call on, with Lesley Ugochukwu returning to team training but once more having not featured since the game at Newcastle. Taking his place in the squad at Molineux is likely to be Alex Matos once more.

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Pochettino spoke glowingly of the teenager and may have to rely on more youth bodies to fill his team. Leo Castledine could feature too. As for Matos though, he has made the step into senior football already. “His personality, his character is always so focused,” Pochettino said ahead of beating Newcastle in midweek.

“Of course he’s talented with potential. He’s really impressed me with his focus in everything. He’s so smart, watching always everything, always smiling.” The 51-year-old added: "To compete with the first-team players is tough. But he’s really competitive, he’s really strong. He’ll kick you and smile at you. It’s nice to have this type of profile. I’m happy with him. There’s some massive talent in the academy in all the different teams."

Alongside Matos and there is no certainty that Romeo Lavia will be able to take his place, though the boss did describe him as in the same spot as Christopher Nkunku. The latter made his long awaited debut on Tuesday after months out injured but isn't ready for a start.

It was a question over Lavia's involvement here that set Pochettino off on a remarkable rant over player availability. "You guys are pushing with the players who are not playing," he said to reporters on Friday. "Lavia is in a similar position to Nkunku, you know? He arrived and never can make his debut.

"After nearly six months, maybe he will be involved with the team. He is doing well but he still needs time to get his best form. He’s desperate to make his debut and he’s pushing. But I want to make clear, with the players with a big period off, you know, out of the competition, they are desperate to be involved.

"But they cannot make the mistake. They can be involved – but in which way? In which form? At what level? It’s easy to say, ‘I want to play’, but we are competing. This is a serious competition. After six months, like Nkunku, like him [Lavia], they need to understand they need to be involved, to train really, really hard every day. They need to be an impact every time they go to the pitch. It’s not to say we are in a pre-season game and they go to the pitch and we say, ‘if they perform well, if they don’t perform well, then no problem’, because six months."

Pochettino continued to vent his frustrations at the reality over the fitness of his squad but didn't give much away in terms of team news. It leaves what is likely to be a similar squad to the one that took on the Toon in place. There could be two goalkeepers named on the bench after Marcus Bettinelli was once more involved but to free up and extra space and have Lavia included that can be changed.

The defence now picks itself with Levi Colwill ready to go despite being taken off at half-time last week. Alfie Gilchrist continues to be picked but is yet to play a senior game.

The midfield looks short of numbers but could be bolstered by a first appearance for Lavia plus some Cobham stardust added. The attack is stacked with names and one may have to miss out in order to strengthen elsewhere. Here, football.london has picked a matchday 20 to be involved.

Goalkeepers: Djordje Petrovic, Lucas Bergstrom

Defenders: Malo Gusto, Thiago Silva, Axel Disasi, Levi Colwill, Ian Maatsen, Benoit Badiashile, Alfie Gilchrist

Midfielders: Conor Gallagher, Moises Caicedo, Alex Matos, Romeo Lavia, Leo Castledine

Attackers: Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling, Nicolas Jackson, Armando Broja, Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk