Havertz, Kovacic And Chalobah To Start, Hudson Odoi And Lukaku Out: Chelsea’s Predicted XI To Play Spurs

David Tully

2 years ago

Categories: Chelsea News, Galleries, Match Previews

Tags: Chelsea, Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, Spurs

After a disappointing result and performance against Brighton midweek, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel will be hoping to see a reaction from his players on Sunday

Facing Tottenham in a fiercely competitive London derby should get the crowd onside so it will be up to the team to live up to expectations by putting in a good display.

Tuchel raised concerns about fatigue after the draw at the Amex so you can expect a number of changes to the side that played on Tuesday night.

Press the next page as we name our starting lineup for the match versus Spurs this weekend.

GK – Kepa Arrizabalaga

Made one good decent save from Alexis Mac Allister in the draw versus Brighton but, other than picking the ball out of the net for Adam Webster’s equaliser, the Spaniard didn’t have a lot to do.

Kepa hasn’t done enough to convince anyone that he deserves to keep his place when Edouard Mendy returns from AFCON duty, but he hasn’t really done a lot wrong either.

RWB – Cesar Azpilicueta

The club captain is clearly being overworked but, with Reece James still not close to making his comeback from a hamstring injury, Tuchel is likely to start him again this weekend.

Azpilicueta may well be switched to wingback if, as expected, Tuchel goes with a five-man backline to counteract the formation used by Tottenham.

CB – Trevoh Chalobah

If Tuchel does change system, it means he will have to gamble on the fitness of Chalobah or Andreas Christensen for Sunday’s game.

Neither will likely be able to play the full 90 minutes so Chalobah (who has returned to training today) could perhaps play for 60, with Christensen (if available) playing the remaining 30,

CB – Thiago Silva

The five-day gap between the Brighton fixture and the Spurs clash should give the Brazilian the recovery time he needs to start at the weekend.

Silva has been the club’s most consistent defender this season, and that is a testament to both his experience and his fitness.

CB – Antonio Rudiger

The German will be frustrated with how the Blues conceded from a corner against the Seagulls. Although it wasn’t his responsibility to mark Webster, he could have challenged for the ball.

Rudiger continues to be one of Tuchel’s most trusted lieutenants, despite the doubts surrounding his future at the club.

LWB – Marcos Alonso

Many will be calling on Tuchel to drop Alonso, but he seems to be reluctant to play anyone else on the left flank following the season-ending injury suffered by Ben Chilwell.

Fans are waiting impatiently for a new signing to be brought in so Alonso can spend a lengthy spell on the bench.

CM – Jorginho

The Italian was uncharacteristically sloppy with his passing against Brighton midweek but, with N’Golo Kante likely to be rested, he could be kept in the side.

Spurs don’t generally press high so Jorginho should have more time on the ball at the weekend, which will help him control the game in the middle of the park.

CM – Mateo Kovacic

Kante didn’t look particularly fresh in the second half on Tuesday evening as, like Jorginho, his passing became very slack. For that reason, he could well be rested by Tuchel.

Kovacic should be in contention to start after the Croatian was only used as a substitute in the draw against the Seagulls.

RW – Mason Mount

You would have thought that the England international would have been chomping at the bit to show Tuchel why he shouldn’t have been dropped for the City game, but he was pretty subdued on Tuesday.

Mount appears to be going through a lull, which is unfortunate timing, considering the rest of the forward players are seemingly having their own form issues.

CF – Kai Havertz

Romelu Lukaku is not producing the goods at the moment, and it must be said that the Blues have a better attacking unit when Havertz leads the line.

For some reason, though, Tuchel has been using the German sparingly in recent weeks. Havertz deserves to be recalled to the starting lineup this weekend.

LW – Christian Pulisic

While Hakim Ziyech did get his goal against Brighton, he did very little else, and with Callum Hudson-Odoi also struggling at the Amex, it may allow Pulisic to get another chance.

The American has been pretty anonymous himself in recent matches so, hopefully, a derby against Spurs will spring him back into life.