Premier League leaders Chelsea welcome Hull City to Stamford Bridge on Sunday (4.30pm kick-off) hoping to record an eighth successive home win in the league.

Antonio Conte’s men returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 victory at champions Leicester last week and, coupled with Liverpool’s draw at Manchester United, it means that they have opened up a seven-point gap to their nearest rivals in the table.

Their 17th league victory of the campaign came courtesy of a brace from Marcos Alonso and a strike from Pedro, and they’ll return to Stamford Bridge this weekend expecting to continue their excellent home form, in which they have won every home league game since their 2-1 defeat to Liverpool back in September.

However, their opponents Hull have certainly improved since new manager Marco Silva has been at the helm, and the Portuguese won his first Premier League game in charge last weekend with victory over Bournemouth at the KCOM Stadium.

Nonetheless, this is a much tougher test for the Tigers, but they know that if they can avoid defeat, they could move out of the bottom three.

Chelsea boss Conte may look to shuffle his pack ahead of the visit of Hull, so here are THREE players who deserve a chance against the Tigers…

Kurt Zouma

Chelsea face Liverpool and Arsenal within the next two weeks, so Conte could shake things up at the back in a bid to keep his squad fit and fresh.

Thus, the Italian could give a first Premier League start of the season to defender Kurt Zouma.

The 22-year-old sustained a nasty injury against Manchester United in February of last year, and was restricted to the sidelines for the rest of 2016 before playing the full 90 minutes against Peterborough in the FA Cup two weeks ago.

John Terry remains suspended, so if Conte wants to introduce any defender into the backline, it’ll be Zouma, so expect him to be involved in some capacity on Sunday.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

With John Obi Mikel having completed a move to China, young midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has now become an important member of the first team squad at Stamford Bridge.

Although he’s unlikely to dispose N’Golo Kante or Nemanja Matic from the starting eleven on a regular basis, the 20-year-old gives Conte another option in the middle of the park, and got an assist in an all round promising display against Peterborough in the FA Cup two weeks ago.

With Cesc Fabregas’ future slightly uncertain, Loftus-Cheek could be the next in command in that midfield area, so giving him more time on the pitch in the Premier League may be invaluable for both the player and the team.

Cesc Fabregas

Conte has been giving Cesc Fabregas more playing time in the last few weeks, and the Spanish international could be in line to start against Hull on Sunday.

The 29-year-old has scored one and assisted four others in his last four Premier League starts for the Blues, although his most recent run out from the first whistle came on New Year’s Eve against Stoke.

However, it’s arguable that Chelsea won’t need both N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic marshalling the midfield at home to Hull, so Conte may be tempted to bring Fabregas in for his greater creative flair and spark, given that the Tigers will likely set up difficult to break down at Stamford Bridge.

Thus, the Blues may need Fabregas’ attacking instincts and intelligence to get past Marco Silva’s side on Sunday.