Kenedy will be unavailable to start against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon. Premier League rules mean loanees are not eligible to face their parent clubs.
Writing in his column for the Chronicle, Mick Quinn says he is backing Christian Atsu to come into the starting eleven for the game against his former side:
“Rafa needs to make a decision as to who he brings into the side instead – and I’d opt for Christian Atsu. I thought Atsu was unlucky to lose his place during the second half of last season, and I like his direct running. His end product is sometimes lacking, but I think he’ll have a point to prove against his former club.”
It is an interesting call. The Ghanaian was picked ahead of Jacob Murphy on the bench for the opening game against Spurs but had to make way for the former Norwich winger for the draw against Cardiff at the weekend.
For me, it’s 50/50. Atsu is naturally left-footed so he would probably be Rafa’s preferred option, but last season the manager played Jacob a number of times on the left-hand side, including the 3-0 win over the Blues on the final day.
Back in May, we went with a front four of Dwight Gayle, Ayoze Perez, Matt Ritchie and Murphy, and it may very well be that Salomon Rondon could be the only change from that line up this weekend.