Kepa handed Chelsea debut at Huddersfield, Hazard on bench

Kepa Arrizabalaga will make his Chelsea debut in Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Huddersfield Town, while Eden Hazard is on the bench.

Chelsea shelled out a world-record fee for a goalkeeper of €80million (£72m) to sign Kepa from Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, as Thibaut Courtois departed for Real Madrid.

The match at the John Smith’s Stadium comes too soon for Hazard to start, though. The Belgium international only made his first appearance since the World Cup as a substitute in the International Champions Cup win over Lyon on Tuesday.

N’Golo Kante and Willian return at the expense of Cesc Fabregas and Callum Hudson-Odoi as Maurizio Sarri makes three changes from the team that lost 2-0 to Manchester City in the Community Shield last weekend.

Here’s your Chelsea team this afternoon, which includes a debut for @Kepa_46! #HUDCHE pic.twitter.com/H7Ety290fQ

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 11, 2018

“Cesc picked up a little injury. I hope he will be able to play the next match,” said Sarri in a pre-match interview.

There is also a new keeper in the line-up for Huddersfield, with David Wagner picking Ben Hamer ahead of last season’s number one Jonas Lossl.

TEAM NEWS with @ViessmannUK: #htafc Head Coach David Wagner has named his starting XI for the Club’s opening game of the 2018/19 @premierleague season as the Terriers face @ChelseaFC at the @johnsmithstadia #HUDCHE (AT) pic.twitter.com/eDe0VZmbg2

— Huddersfield Town (@htafcdotcom) August 11, 2018