Chelsea are the European Champions after overcoming Manchester City in last season’s Champions League final, and they will pose as tough opposition for Juventus tomorrow night.
The Old Lady have not been at their best so far this season, but this team knows how to perform on the European stage as highlighted last year, when despite their struggles, beat Barcelona at the Camp Nou to clinch top spot in the group.
The Blues suffered a surprise defeat at the weekend however, being made to look like the away team inside their own stadium as Manchester City dominated them with a passionate performance, and while that may have hurt their morale a little, I feel like their reaction will make them even tougher to beat on Wednesday night.
Edouard Mendy has an amazing record since joining the club, and it matters very little which mixture of defenders line-up ahead of him, but with either Marcos Alonso or an out-of-favour Ben Chilwell set to start at left wing-back, our best option should be to attack down the right.
I’d personally start with Federico Chiesa in the right-wing role, with Weston McKennie or Aaron Ramsey as our most advanced midfielder on the right of the three, and give Juan Cuadrado freedom to push up strongly from the right also, somewhat putting all our eggs in one basket per say to double down on that theory. I don’t feel as though I will get my wish however, as with both Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala missing, I feel Cuadrado will return to play on the right-wing, with Chiesa switched to the left, but we will have to see on that.
The battle in midfield will be extremely tough to win, with any combination of Ngolo Kante, Jorginho or Kovacic a daunting challenge to break down, but their system does leave them a little light in attack.
Mason Mount will be a huge loss to their teamsheet, with his work rate on and off the ball a huge asset to the way they play, and Kai Havertz could well be asked to drop in deeper due to the Englishman’s absence, although I feel Ruben Loftus-Cheek could well be given a rare start to fill that role.
Predicted Chelsea line-up:
Mendy
Chalobah Silva Christensen
Azpilicueta Jorginho Kovacic Alonso
Loftus-Cheek
Lukaku Havertz
RLC has impressed in his two most recent outings, and is able to play in varying roles, although he isn’t a player I would be worried about, and dropping Havertz deeper would also work against his strengths.
The toughest battle will no doubt be in the middle of the park, and we will need to keep the onus on attacking at speed and getting around our rivals out wide, and Chelsea will not be making it easy for us to stick to our gameplan.
Max Allegri will have to have his players well versed, and we will need to be at our most clinical if we are going to beat the European champs, as chances are extremely difficult to come by, and they will be ready to hit us on the counter at any given opportunity.
Patrick
