How should Chelsea line up against Nottingham Forest to start the new year right?

Chelsea greet the new year with a fixture not seen in over 20 years. While we’ve played Nottingham Forest a few times in domestic cup competitions over the intervening period, the last time we faced them in the Premier League was in a previous decade century millennium. Time to party like it’s 1999 — February 19, 1999, to be precise!

Chelsea’s 3-1 win that day was powered by Mikael Forssell and Bjarne Goldbæk — legendary names if you were into the Championship Manager gaming scene, like I was at that time!

Not exactly goalscoring powerhouses, those two (though I always held out hope for Forssell), which means they’d fit right in with this current Chelsea side. Joking! (Or am I?)

That said, the (renewed) absence of Reece James will not be helpful at all, even if both Hakim Ziyech and Mateo Kovačić are now back from the World Cup and available. Everyone else who was injured before, remains injured, including Édouard Mendy, who’s dealing with some sort of shoulder issue.

Back-to-back games against Manchester City follow this one, so ... you know, gotta win this one!

Choose wisely!

(Live results)