Romelu Lukaku in line for second Chelsea debut against Arsenal with N’Golo Kante set to return

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Chelsea pair Romelu Lukaku and N’Golo Kante are both in line to face Arsenal on Sunday.

Both men missed Saturday’s 3-0 win against Crystal Palace as Thomas Tuchel’s side made a perfect start to the season.

But Lukaku, who has been in quarantine since his club record £97.5million move from Inter Milan last week, is due to train with his new teammates for the first time tomorrow.

Kante, who suffered an ankle injury after the Super Cup win against Villarreal, will resume training on Wednesday to put him in contention to start at the Emirates.

The duo’s availability is bad news for Arsenal, who suffered a 2-0 opening day defeat to Brentford - placing pressure on Mikel Arteta ahead of the weekend.

Lukaku is expected to immediately take his place at the point of Chelsea’s attack, with Tuchel planning to build his forward line around the Belgium international, making it clear that the rest of his strike options are in a fight to play alongside the 28-year-old.

The Chelsea manager said: “We will prepare him to be ready for Arsenal and hopefully he can be on the pitch.

“We got the number one striker in and we want to have him on the pitch. This is very clear. When you do a transfer of this volume we are absolutely sure we want to have him on the pitch.

“I think he will take pressure off the shoulders of Kai [Havertz], Timo [Werner] and Christian [Pulisic] because Romelu is the kind of personality to take responsibility and I think he will lift the pressure off the young guys’ shoulders.”

Tuchel suggested the arrival of Lukaku could see him alter the three-man attack he has preferred since taking over at Stamford Bridge.

“I am very happy with Christian, Timo and Kai because they have a lot of effort and put a lot of intensity in the team,” he added. “I think with Romelu we now have the chance to play with two strikers like they did in Inter with him, or we can continue with three strikers. We will see how this works out and who will fight for the place with him.”

Tammy Abraham’s departure from Chelsea is set to be confirmed, with the England international agreeing a £34million move to Roma.

The signing of Lukaku meant the 23-year-old was pushed even further down the pecking after being largely sidelined by Tuchel.

His move will vacate the No9 shirt, which is expected to be handed to Lukaku.

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