With everything that has been going on with Chelsea of late, we now have the simple task of playing the Premier League champions twice in a row. Oh darling!
The Blues face second-placed Manchester City in the league, and oh, Graham Potter would want to avoid this right now. The pressure is already on him after winning just one game in the last eight league games, but facing Pep Guardiola’s City is far from necessary.
However, City only managed a draw against Everton at the weekend, but prior to that, they had won every league game since October 16, when they lost to Liverpool.
Chelsea will need to take a serious look at their back line and lack of pace. Because if we prepare like we did against Bournemouth and Forest, City will destroy us on the counter and on the pace.
I wonder if Potter will stick with a defense of four or go back to a defense of three, which might further protect our clear weaknesses. Personally, I think we should play Denis Zakaria as DM, and stick with the back four and hone it. But I’m not sure what Potter will do.
Here’s an attempt at a predicted alignment:
I mean, watching this scares the shit out of me, I can’t lie. I don’t want to see this at all, but I wonder if this is what he’s going with. Mateo Kovacic is surely ready to start all over again, and I can’t see him leaving anyone but Zakaria for him. Trevoh Chalobah surely has a chance at right back? Anyone is a better option than César Azpilicueta. But Kalidou Koulibaly scares me against the city attackers right now.
I’m really intrigued to see what changes, if any, Potter makes, and if he changes the form at all. I think this will be a good test of his tactical ability and what he can do here, and it will depend on how he sees things.
I personally want to see Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson start the game. No one can tell me that they would be worse than the current crop.
Crazy if we beat City, but it’s the kind of thing Chelsea should do, right? Still, I’m going for a 3-1 win against City, unfortunately.
