Ziyech And James To Start, Pulisic And Christensen On The Bench: Chelsea’s Predicted XI To Face Real Madrid

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3 years ago

Categories: Chelsea News, Galleries, Match Previews

Tags: Chelsea, Hakim Ziyech, Real Madrid, Reece James

A hard-fought win against West Ham on Saturday means Chelsea head into the first leg of their huge Champions League semi-final tie versus Real Madrid this evening in confident mood.

In contrast, Real were held to a drab 0-0 draw against Betis at the weekend, and will be without their captain Sergio Ramos, who is currently sidelined with injury.

Even a depleted Madrid team, though, is a major threat, as Liverpool found in the quarter-finals, so Blues boss Thomas Tuchel won’t be taking anything for granted.

Press the next page as we attempt to guess Chelsea’s starting eleven for tonight’s game in Spain.

GK – Edouard Mendy

The Senegalese international returned in goal for the Hammers win, after Kepa was handed a runout for two games, and there is not expected to be another change in goal this evening.

Mendy was not called upon to do much at the weekend, but Real will almost certainly give him a save or two to make, and he will need to be on his game.

RWB – Reece James

As is the way with Tuchel, he made a surprise selection decision by naming Cesar Azpilicueta at wingback on Saturday, but the German explained after the game, it was due to him feeling he needed Andreas Christensen at centre-back to deal with West Ham’s height from set pieces.

That will not be a consideration tonight so Azpilicueta will likely move into the middle of defence, with James coming back into the side to give the team more of a threat going forward.

CB – Cesar Azpilicueta

Although Christensen did very little wrong against West Ham, the captain has been ever-present since Tuchel’s appointment, and his experience will be needed in the centre of defence.

Vinicius Jnr is expected to play from the left-wing for Real so Azpilicueta will need to use all of his knowledge to stop the pacey forward from getting in behind.

CB – Thiago Silva

There will be doubts over the Brazilian’s selection as the 36-year-old does find it hard to play two games in a week, considering his recent lengthy spell out with a muscular injury.

Tuchel could well go with either Christensen or Kurt Zouma in the middle of the three-man defence, but Silva’s experience of playing in big Champions League games may lead to him starting.

CB – Antonio Rudiger

The German was not at his best at the London Stadium, and there was more than one occasion when he was caught out of position but it wasn’t a poor enough performance that will see him dropped.

Having Rudiger, Silva and Azpilicueta at centre-back means the Blues will have a ton of guile and nous to call upon in order to keep a clean sheet in Spain.

LWB – Ben Chilwell

Another excellent performance against the Hammers means it would be surprising if Tuchel takes the England international out of the team.

However, as we have seen previously, Marcos Alonso has been given a runout by the Chelsea manager in these type of matches before. Chilwell should, however, be in pole position to start.

CM – N’Golo Kante

With Mateo Kovacic having been ruled out, the Frenchman is guaranteed to start against Real, and his ability to break up play and disrupt the opponent’s rhythm will be vital.

Real excel when the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are given time on the ball and Kante will need to be snapping at their heels throughout the 90 minutes.

CM – Jorginho

The Italian wasn’t at his most effective versus West Ham at the weekend, but if he can provide the passing range and work rate he has produced in certain games recently, he will be hugely influential this evening.

Jorginho does also tend to flourish in Europe when the pace of the game is lower so expect him to be a prominent figure against Real.

RW – Hakim Ziyech

Christian Pulisic didn’t pull up any trees at the London Stadium, so Tuchel could well be tempted to rotate the front three once more and hand the Moroccan another start.

Ziyech may not have the pace on the counter-attack that the likes of Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic possess, but he can pick out a pass and take up decent positions to get shots off at goal.

CF – Timo Werner

After scoring on Saturday, the German international should be much more confident heading into such an important game.

The Blues paid £47.5m for Werner in the summer to star in matches such as this so they will be hoping that he takes his chances if he gets them tonight.

LW – Mason Mount

The first name on the teamsheet, and he will undoubtedly be a central figure in whether Chelsea come away from Spain with a result heading into the second leg.

Mount’s ability to carry the ball into the final third, as well as getting into shooting positions, makes him a major weapon, especially in knockout European ties.