Chelsea will face Fulham in a few hours time with Maurizio Sarri looking to change the narrative surrounding the Stamford Bridge outfit.
Sarri seems to have bought himself invaluable time after the hard-fought loss in the Carabao Cup final and the subsequent progress in the Europa League and convincing victory over Tottenham Hotspur. The Italian has shown signs of acceptance with regards to the need to tweak his tactics from time to time and this will mean the Blues are in with a good chance to reclaim their spot in the top 4 before the end of the season.
CHELSEA TEAM NEWS
Maurizio Sarri insists that he has no injury concerns to worry about which indicates a clean bill of health for the club. But the recent workload and the nature of the fixture means we are likely to see a number of changes to the starting eleven.
PREDICTED CHELSEA LINEUP VS FULHAM (4-3-3)
DEFENCE
Kepa Arrizabalaga is expected to come back into contention after Sarri declared the matter as ”closed” and that Kepa was his ”No.1 keeper”. The Spaniard might be recalled with a likely clean sheet in the offing to boost his confidence.
Cesar Azpilicueta might have to continue at right-back and he will hope for a comfortable 90 minutes with a flurry of fixtures awaiting before the international break.
A rest for Antonio Rudiger is forthcoming with Andreas Christensen the obvious candidate to come in. He will partner David Luiz at centre-back.
Emerson, who has been involved in recent weeks, might earn another start. He should line up at left-back.
MIDFIELD
Jorginho and N’Golo Kante are unlikely to be rotated. The duo has gotten better with each passing week with Kante rediscovering his mojo in the middle of the pitch while the Italian needs a couple of strong performances to regain his confidence.
Alongside them, Ross Barkley might come in place of Kovacic while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is also an option.
ATTACK
Eden Hazard looked fatigued against Spurs but he was hauled off on the hour mark in that game. Thus, a 30-minute breather and an extra day’s rest might see him start once again on the left flank. Gonzalo Higuain should start up front while this might be the ideal opportunity to hand Callum Hudson-Odoi a start on the right.
Willian, Pedro and Giroud will provide further attacking options from the bench.
