Chelsea's best XI for Premier League restart: N'Golo Kante call, Christian Pulisic return

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard will have a selection headache with a rare clean bill of health at Stamford Bridge

When the Premier League was brought to a halt back in March, Chelsea were in the midst of a significant injury crisis.

Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic were among those out with issues as fringe players acquitted themselves well with additional opportunities.

Now they are all fit, there are some selection headaches for Frank Lampard to make with the squad's cleanest bill of health all season.

N'Golo Kante's status once games restart is unclear as he remains on compassionate leave, while Jorginho will be suspended for the first match back because of an accumulation of yellow cards.

But everyone else should be available - including Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

So what does the head coach's strongest XI look like?

For the purpose of this exercise, we are going to presume that the first game will be what would have been the Blues' next fixture before the hiatus: Aston Villa away.

Of course Lampard tweaks his formation depending on the opposition but based on the evidence of similar fixtures it seems like a 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3 would be the most likely set up.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, thanks to impressive performances against Liverpool and Everton before the unwanted break, is unquestionably back to being the Blues' first-choice.

While the head coach has rotated his four centre backs throughout the campaign, it feels like Toni Rudiger and Kurt Zouma would be the first-choice pairing with Fikayo Tomori out of favour since the turn of the year and Andreas Christensen held in reserve.

The full backs seem a straightforward pick, with Reece James at right back and captain Cesar Azpilicueta operating down the left.

With Jorginho banned, Billy Gilmour will sit at the base of midfield. Although that is working on the basis that Kante remains on compassionate leave. If he does return and is sharp enough to play, he would likely replace Gilmour.

Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount get the vote to operate as the two more advanced figures despite Loftus-Cheek's availability and Ross Barkley doing well pre-coronavirus.

There is no shortage of options in wide positions with Christian Pulisic also back fit following a lengthy spell out.

Callum Hudson-Odoi's situation is unclear, so the American would get the nod on the left, while Willian is a certainty on the right despite his contract issue.

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Tammy Abraham, another who has returned to fitness, would lead the line as Olivier Giroud is kept as back-up on the bench.

Who would you pick in your XI for the first game back? Tweet us @Chelsea_FL.

Chelsea team for first Premier League game back: Kepa; James, Rudiger, Zouma, Azpilicueta; Gilmour; Mount, Kovacic; Willian, Abraham, Pulisic.