Havertz, Kante And Jorginho To Start, Lukaku On The Bench: Chelsea’s Predicted XI To Face Brentford

David Tully

2 years ago

Categories: Chelsea News, Galleries, Match Previews

While fans have been distracted with off-field matters during the international break, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel will be hoping that his players will be keeping their focus on the football during the run-in.

The Blues face Brentford at Stamford Bridge this weekend, with the Bees having picked up some form before losing to Leicester in their last league fixture a fortnight ago.

Tuchel’s team will be favourites for the three points, and it’s likely that they’ll deploy the 4-3-3 system that has been used on a regular basis in recent weeks.

Press the next page as we predict Chelsea’s starting lineup to take on Brentford on Saturday afternoon.

GK – Edouard Mendy

After playing a key role in helping Senegal qualify for the World Cup yesterday, the 29-year-old will return to Cobham in a buoyant mood.

Such a morale-boosting win will hopefully see Mendy maintain his excellent standards in between the posts for the rest of the season.

RB – Cesar Azpilicueta

Reece James has been pictured back in training but the fullback will likely be eased back into things due to his recent hamstring injuries.

With that being the case, Azpilicueta is the favourite to start at right-back and, if they need something extra in the final third, they can always turn to James in the second half.

CB – Thiago Silva

The defender was an unused substitute as Brazil won 4-0 against Bolivia last night so he should be fresh and ready to go for the game against Brentford this weekend.

Silva will be looking to get the better of Ivan Toney, who has been in decent form over the past month or so. The veteran defender has the experience, though, to keep the striker quiet.

CB – Antonio Rudiger

The German’s consistency is seriously impressive and, while playing in a back four means he can’t always get forward as much as he would like, he has still proven that he can excel in the role.

Having Rudiger and Silva at the back gives Tuchel an extremely strong foundation, especially in games when the main focus is to break down the opposition. Their ability to snuff out counter-attacks and keep opposing forwards quiet is vital.

LB – Malang Sarr

The 23-year-old has played left-back in two of the last three matches so, while some may be surprised about his inclusion here, there is a strong chance that he will be selected in the starting eleven.

Marcos Alonso is now 100% fit after his bout with the virus but his defensive capabilities in a back four have often been questioned, so Tuchel may stick with Sarr.

CM – N’Golo Kante

The midfielder only played 65 minutes for France against South Africa yesterday which suggests he should be fresh and raring to go for the weekend.

Kante has been in decent form recently, and his ability to cover the ground and get forward will play an important role against Brentford.

CM – Jorginho

Neither Mateo Kovacic nor Jorginho started for their countries on Tuesday night so there will be no difference in terms of freshness ahead of Saturday’s match.

Tuchel may opt for Jorginho simply because he knows Chelsea will have a lot of possession so the Italian will get a lot of time to dictate play.

CM – Mason Mount

The 23-year-old had an excellent game against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup last time out, having been asked to play in a more central position.

With that being the case, Mount may be given the nod to start in the same role once again, in order to cause Brentford problems between the lines.

RW – Hakim Ziyech

The Moroccan has retired from international football so Tuchel would have spent a lot of time with him over the past couple of weeks.

Combined with his good recent form, it would be a surprise if Ziyech isn’t named in the starting lineup this weekend.

CF – Kai Havertz

Romelu Lukaku may have scored against Boro but Havertz is on a hot streak for club and country at the moment, having scored for Germany against Israel on Saturday.

The Blues’ attack simply works better with the German leading the line, so Lukaku will have to be satisfied with a place on the bench against the Bees.

LW – Christian Pulisic

After scoring a hat-trick for the USA on Monday night, the winger’s confidence will be extremely high when he comes back to Cobham.

For that reason alone, you would back Pulisic to start on Saturday afternoon. Whether he will get on the scoresheet again, we shall have to wait and see.