Three days on from knocking Liverpool out of the EFL Cup, Chelsea can overtake their opponents in the Premier League should they win Saturday's latest clash at Stamford Bridge.
Eden Hazard inspired a much-changed Blues side to a 2-1 win at Anfield in midweek, and now Maurizio Sarri's charges will be looking to grab top spot from the Reds, depending on how Manchester City fare against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Chelsea have three more matches to cram in before the second international break of the season, with this top-of-the-table showdown very much taking priority for Sarri.
Here, Sports Mole looks at how the Italian may set out his side for this weekend's meeting.
Out: Marco van Ginkel (knee)
Doubtful: Andreas Christensen (knock), Antonio Rudiger (groin), Pedro (shoulder), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (shin)
Sarri is left sweating over the fitness of centre-back Rudiger, who has started all six of Chelsea's league games to date but limped off in the goalless draw with West Ham United.
Gary Cahill has profited from the German's absence, being given his first minutes of the season in the stalemate at the London Stadium and then playing a full part in the EFL Cup tie with Liverpool.
A knock sustained by Christensen at Anfield means that Cahill could well be Sarri's only realistic option alongside David Luiz, and there is further bad news as Pedro is still recovering from a shoulder injury picked up away to PAOK.
Sarri does at least have Willian and an in-form Hazard to call upon in his forward line, while Olivier Giroud - who has five goals in his last six Premier League starts against Liverpool - is now preferred to Alvaro Morata through the middle.
Elsewhere, the Italian has favoured a midfield triumvirate of Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante in the league, which should remain the case for the visit of Liverpool.
Kante is no longer indispensable, and it could well be that a fit-again Cesc Fabregas gets the nod against more defence-minded teams in the future, but the Reds are not exactly known for sitting back and the Frenchman's battling qualities will be needed this weekend.
> Click here to see how Liverpool could line up for this fixture
Daniel Lewis
