Frank Lampard snubs Tottenham target Antonio Rudiger but Callum Hudson-Odoi STARTS for Chelsea amid Bayern Munich interest
Frank Lampard has left Antonio Rudiger out of his squad to face Crystal Palace on Saturday as rumours linking the Chelsea defender with Tottenham intensify.
Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT and the first of our three live Premier League matches is an intriguing London derby.
New signings Edouard Mendy, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner all start for Chelsea, but perhaps more interesting is the omission of Rudiger.
The Blues defender has not played a single minute this season after falling out of favour and it is understood Spurs are interested in signing him on a season-long loan.
Marcos Alonso has also been left out entirely following reports of a furious bust-up with Lampard at West Brom last week, while there is also no Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the squad amid rumours he could be loaned out.
Callum Hudon-Odoi, on the other hand, gets his first Premier League start of the season amid interest from Bayern Munich, while Christian Pulisic makes the bench following his return from injury.
Mendy, the 28-year-old Senegal international, makes his first Premier League appearance following a £22million move from Rennes.
Could that signal the end of Kepa Arrizbalaga's Chelsea career?
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace: Confirmed XIs
Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Silva, Zouma, Chilwell, Jorginho, Kante, Hudson-Odoi, Havertz, Werner, Abraham.
Subs: Kepa, Pulisic, Tomori, Kovacic, Giroud, Mount, James.
Crystal Palace: Guatia, Ward, Kouyate, Sakho, Mitchell, McCarthur, McCarthy, Zaha, Eze, Townsend, Ayew.
Subs: Hennessey, Milivojevic, Dann, Meyer, Benteke, Kelly, Riedewald.
Listen to Chelsea vs Crystal Palace LIVE on talkSPORT at 12:30!