Football: Weekend guide to the Premiership

Chelsea v Charlton Athletic Last season: No fixture

Friday 16 October 1998 23:02 BST
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CHELSEA WILL be without Graeme Le Saux, who begins a three-match suspension following his sending-off against Blackburn on 21 September. Gianluca Vialli, Chelsea's player-manager, will otherwise have nearly a full-strength squad to chose from, although Eddie Newton is unlikely to be risked after picking up an ankle injury in a reserve game this week.

Alan Curbishley, the Charlton manager, faces a selection dilemma. New signing Carl Tiler impressed on his debut in the 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest, when he joined Richard Rufus and Eddie Youds in the centre of defence, with the absence of John Robinson allowing Charlton to switch from a 4-4-2 to a 5-3-2 formation. The change worked well but, with Robinson fit again, it leaves four midfielders competing for three places if Tiler retains his place. Shaun Newton will be out for three weeks with knee ligament damage. Mark Bowen, Mike Salmon and Gary Poole are also injured but Matt Holmes is close to first team fitness after four reserve outings.

CHELSEA (from): Vialli, Petrescu, Di Matteo, Zola, Leboeuf, De Goey, Babayaro, Desailly, Poyet, Flo, Casiraghi, Wise, Kharin, Laudrup, Hitchcock, Ferrer, Duberry, Lambourde, Nicholls, Morris.

CHARLTON ATHLETIC (from): Ilic, Mills, Powell, Tiler, Redfearn, Youds, Rufus, Kinsella, Hunt, Mendonca, Robinson, Mortimer, Brown, S Jones, K Jones, Petterson, Lisbie, Bright, Parker, Barnes.

Injuries: Chelsea: E Newton. Charlton Athletic: S Newton, Bowen, Salmon, Poole.

Suspensions: Chelsea: None. Charlton Athletic: None.

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