Chelsea XI vs Hull: Confirmed team news, predicted lineup and injury latest for Premier League

Chelsea will be without four stars when they take on Hull City on Saturday.

The biggest miss is Moises Caicedo, who remains sidelined with a calf problem that has blinkered his start to the season.

The Ecuador international returned against former club Brighton and Hove Albion a fortnight ago, but lasted only 14 minutes of his cameo appearance off the bench as his injury flared up once more.

He then sat out the 2-1 defeat at Arsenal and the 6-3 win over Leeds United at Stamford Bridge lasst time out.

Xabi Alonso ruled him out of this match on Friday, eyeing the trip to Brentford next week as a potential benchmark for his true return.

The other three absentees are all summer signings. Marco Palestra’s wait for a competitive debut in Chelsea blue continues from his knock that he took in training before the start of the season.

Jordan Henderson has not featured at all for his new club since his free transfer from Brentford, having broken his wrist in the celebrations following England’s win over Mexico in the World Cup at the Azteca Stadium.

Sidelined: Marco Palestra

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Emmanuel Emegha, the summer arrival from sister club Strasbourg, is out with a hamstring problem that he suffered against Bromley in a behind-closed-doors friendly in pre-season.

As such, and after Alonos’s shuffling of his pack against Leeds in midweek, it should make his first-choice lineup fairly straightforward to pick.

In goal, Emi Martinez will return after Mike Penders’ cup run-out, while the 3-4-2-1 shape will come back in after Alonso trialled a 4-3-3 that saw the Blues fall 2-0 down on Wednesday.

Levi Colwill went straight down the tunnel in midweek after his substitution, but Alonso assured that the defender was not injured after he had missed the defeat at Arsenal following a slight knock in training.

The 23-year-old should come back in here, alongside Maxence Lacroix, and it is a toss-up on whether Josh Acheampong has done enough to displace Wesley Fofana for the right-sided centre-back role.

Pedro Neto was a half-time sub against Leeds, and he completed the turnaround with a well-taken goal to make it 3-2. He will celebrate his new contract with another start at right wing-back, while Jorrel Hato has seemingly cemented himself as the go-to on the left.

Reece James should start in the engine room, and Romeo Lavia should be reinstalled in Caicedo’s absence, after the failed experiment of a midfield trio that saw Reggie Watson handed a debut as a sole pivot, and Malo Gusto and Valentin Barco ahead of him as No8s.

The front three picks itself, with Premier League player of the month Joao Pedro flanked by Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers, who starred off the bench against Leeds.

Predicted Chelsea XI (3-4-2-1): Martinez; Fofana, Lacroix, Colwill; Neto, James, Lavia, Hato; Palmer, Rogers; Joao Pedro