Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri is expected to heavily rotate his team for Thursday's Europa League clash against PAOK in a bid to keep his squad fresh during a busy period of the season.

The Blues have made a flying start to the new Premier League campaign, winning each of their five matches to sit top of the table on 15 points.

The Europa League is not the European competition that Chelsea would have wanted to be competing in this season, but that is the case, and Sarri will see it as the perfect chance to hand players much-needed minutes.

Chelsea's next three matches after this one are against West Ham United and Liverpool, with the Blues taking on Jurgen Klopp's side in both the Premier League and EFL Cup.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how Chelsea could line up against PAOK.

With such a busy run of matches to come, there is no question that Chelsea boss Sarri will shuffle his pack for the clash in Greece on Thursday night.

On-loan Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic is a doubt with the thigh injury that he picked up in Saturday's 4-1 win over Cardiff City, while Marco van Ginkel is a long-term absentee.

Sarri does have a number of midfield options to choose from, however, and Cesc Fabregas, Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are among those hopeful of earning starts.

Further forward, Alvaro Morata's spot in the XI has already been confirmed, while youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi should also be handed more valuable minutes in a wide position.

There will also be changes in goal and at the back, with Willy Caballero, Gary Cahill and Andreas Christensen all in line to feature for the English giants in their Group L opener.

> Click here to see how PAOK could line up for this fixture

Written by
Matt Law