Chelsea signing Wesley Fofana STARTS against West Ham as ex-Leicester defender prepares to make debut at Stamford Bridge
WESLEY FOFANA will make his Chelsea debut this afternoon after being named in their starting line-up for the clash with West Ham.
The Blues defender, who penned a £70million transfer to Stamford Bridge earlier this week, will be looking to help Thomas Tuchel’s side recover from their defeat to Southampton on Tuesday.
Chelsea XI to face West Ham: Mendy; Fofana, Silva, Koulibaly; James, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Gallagher, Cucurella; Sterling, Pulisic.
West Ham XI to face Chelsea: Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Kehrer, Emerson; Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Paqueta, Fornals; Antonio.
Fofana is one of FIVE changes from the side which lost at St Mary’s.
Reece James, Mateo Kovacic, Conor Gallagher and Christian Pulisic have all come back into the fold.
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Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz all drop to the bench.
Meanwhile, West Ham also have one of their new signings making his first start for the club.
Attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta came on as a second half substitute in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham in midweek.
And he now lines up from the off for the first time in a Hammers shirt.
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West Ham are looking to hand Chelsea their third defeat of the season after just six league matches.
Tuchel’s men ended up spending nearly £300m in the summer transfer window – a Premier League record.
He brought in former Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on deadline day to add to marquee acquisitions Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella.
However, Aubameyang is not available for today’s game against West Ham as he recently suffered a broken jaw in an attack at his home.