Silva And Kante To Start, Christensen And Kovacic Out: Chelsea’s Predicted XI To Face Arsenal

David Tully

2 years ago

Categories: Chelsea News, Galleries, Match Previews

Tags: Arsenal, Chelsea, N'Golo Kante, Thiago Silva

After successfully negotiating their FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace at the weekend, Chelsea’s focus now turns back to the Premier League.

Securing third in the table is now the main objective for Thomas Tuchel’s side and they will be facing an Arsenal team tomorrow evening who are woefully out of form.

After three defeats in a row to Palace, Brighton and Southampton, the Gunners are not exactly full of confidence so they won’t be looking forward to a trip to Stamford Bridge.

Press the next page as we predict the Blues’ starting lineup for the London derby.

GK – Edouard Mendy

Other than a 20-yard strike from Cheikhou Kouyate, which he palmed away in the first half, Mendy had very little else to do at Wembley.

Whether he’ll have an equally quiet night tomorrow, we shall have to wait and see. One thing is for sure, Chelsea’s defence needs to be much better than it has been in the last home two matches, where they have conceded seven.

RWB – Cesar Azpilicueta

With Reece James expected to play as one of the centre-halves again, in order to keep Gabriel Martinelli quiet, the club captain could be asked to play on the wing once more.

There are other options, including Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but it’s likely that Azpilicueta will keep his place so he can double up on Martinelli if needed.

CB – Reece James

James has performed superbly as part of a three-man backline in the last two games, restricting the threat of Vinicius Jnr and Wilfried Zaha.

As we have said already, it seems likely that Tuchel will ask James to perform a similar job tomorrow to ensure that Martinelli doesn’t cause the Blues any problems.

CB – Thiago Silva

With the 37-year-old rested for the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday, it’s almost certain that he will be recalled for the Arsenal clash.

Andreas Christensen didn’t perform too badly in Silva’s absence against Palace but the Dane is expected to return to the bench so that the Brazilian veteran can be reinstated.

CB – Antonio Rudiger

Didn’t really have a lot to do against Palace, but the centre-back is likely to be far busier tomorrow night, coming up against Bukayo Saka.

The Gunners star is quick and hard to get off the ball, so Rudiger will need all his experience and discipline in order to get the better of the 20-year-old.

LWB – Marcos Alonso

The Spaniard has actually looked pretty decent over the past couple of games, but his lack of pace could be exploited by Arsenal, especially with Saka on that side of the pitch.

Tuchel may throw a curveball and pick Cesar Azpilicueta on the left wing in order to counteract the Gunners’ threat on that flank, but Alonso is still the likeliest candidate to start the match.

CM – Jorginho

The 30-year-old has really been off the boil in recent months, and he looked way off his best once again at the weekend, with a particularly poor first-half performance versus Palace.

Mateo Kovacic’s injury does give Tuchel a potential selection dilemma, though. He could well pick Loftus-Cheek ahead of Jorginho to face Arsenal but the Italian’s ability to control possession may see him be given the nod.

CM – N’Golo Kante

With the Frenchman rested on Sunday, it seems very likely that he will be recalled to play the Gunners tomorrow evening.

Like Jorginho, Kante hasn’t really looked himself at times this season, but he has also put in some very good displays. Hopefully, we see the best of him once again versus the Gunners.

AM – Mason Mount

Playing more centrally has led to the 23-year-old increasing his goal output significantly. He now has four goals and two assists in his last three matches.

With Thomas Partey missing for Arsenal, Mount should have space to roam in, with Mikel Arteta’s side not having another holding midfielder who can cover the same amount of ground.

CF – Kai Havertz

The German still looks the best option at centre-forward for the Blues, but there are still concerns over whether he can score goals on a consistent basis.

Havertz was pretty anonymous for most of the match at Wembley on Sunday, although he did play an important role in Loftus-Cheek’s opening goal.

CF – Timo Werner

The 25-year-old does look as though he has turned over a new leaf, and a consistent run in the starting eleven has certainly helped him find some form in front of goal.

Consistency is the key for Werner, though, and it is important that we see him get on the scoresheet regularly between now and the end of the season.