Chelsea will look to avoid an upset when they face Wolves in a few hours time. The Blues fell to a 1-2 defeat against the same opponents in the reverse fixture and despite Wolves’ decent away record against the top 6 this season, Sarri’s men will go into the match as favourites.
Chelsea have turned things around to an extent after the Etihad debacle and sense an opportunity to cement their place in the top 4 with Manchester United and Arsenal facing each other later today.
CHELSEA TEAM NEWS
Maurizio Sarri will have the whole roster to cherrypick his starting eleven. A rare occurrence especially for a big team at this stage of the competition.
PREDICTED CHELSEA LINEUP VS WOLVES (4-3-3)
DEFENCE
Kepa Arrizabalaga seems to have served his punishment for the Carabao Cup incident and is firmly back as the no.1 keeper for Chelsea. He will look to keep a clean sheet and a good display will go a long way in helping the fans warm up to him again.
Cesar Azpilicueta will take up his usual place at right-back. The Spaniard was rested in midweek and he will be back for the crucial Premier League fixture.
David Luiz (benched last week in the league) is expected to continue in defence despite featuring against Dynamo Kyiv. Andreas Christensen is likely to make way for Antonio Rudiger having played 180 minutes over the last 7 days.
Emerson is also expected to come back at left-back with Sarri rotating him with Marcos Alonso regularly with the Spaniard no longer looking like the first choice in that position.
Also Read: Predicted Wolves Lineup vs Chelsea
MIDFIELD
Jorginho will take up his place in deep midfield. He has gotten better in recent weeks and will look to work further on his understanding with N’Golo Kante, who will also return.
Mateo Kovacic played the 90 minutes in midweek which should see Ross Barkley retain his place as the third midfielder. Ruben Loftus-Cheek offers an alternative.
ATTACK
A well-rested Eden Hazard will start on the left flank while Gonzalo Higuain will start up top.
Willian and Pedro both started against Kyiv. Pedro’s display was praised by Sarri even though Willian was withdrawn on the 78th minute, which might indicate a start for the Brazilian here.
