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Cape Town - Maurizio Sarri is expected to rotate his Chelsea side for the first leg of their Europa League round-of-32 tie with Malmo on Thursday.
The Blues head into the match on the back of their 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City in the Premier League last time out – their biggest defeat in any competition for 28 years – while they have lost their last four away games without scoring a goal.
With big matches to come against Manchester United in the FA Cup and City in Carabao Cup, Sarri is likely to take the opportunity to rotate his team in Sweden, with the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Olivier Giroud expected to feature.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek has not travelled with the squad, however, as he has suffered a recurrence of a persistent back problem although he is expected to be available for Monday’s clash with United.
Marcos Alonso has also remained in London, with Sarri admitting he has been rested and has ‘no physical problem’.
Thursday’s match at the Malmo New Stadion will be the first time Chelsea have faced Malmo although they are unbeaten in their four previous meetings with Swedish opposition.
