Chelsea vs Everton: Returning Cesc Fabregas should be rested for PSG match
Chelsea take on Everton at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night and in his press conference this afternoon, Jose Mourinho has revealed that in addition to Diego Costa missing his final game through suspension, Mikel is our only player affected by injury that rules him out of the game. My question to all of you is who do you think should start for Chelsea in this one?
The good news is that Cesc Fabregas is back and available to play but I just wonder if it would be wise to play him from the start of if we should bring him on from the bench?
Chelsea have a free weekend after this one in order to prepare for PSG next Tuesday night in the Champions League (after our exit from the FA CUP) and I personally would not want to take any risks with Fabregas.
Jose confirmed that Mikel is out injured but he hasn't started the last couple of games anyway so the Matic/Ramires combination gets the nod to start with from me in the heart of our midfield.
Thibaut Courtois will start in goal with the tried and trusted (after one or two wobbles) back four of Ivanovic, Cahill, JT(c) and Azpilicueta in front of him.
Ahead of Matic and Ramires and in behind the striker I hope it's the same three that have played virtually most of the games - Willian, Oscar and Hazard with new signing Cuadrado on the bench.
Remy’s pace might hurt Everton defence
Now up top is where most people will disagree here. I personally would go with Loic Remy for the start based on the fact that they would be up against Jagielka and Stones in defence for the visitors.
Of course it's always tempting to stick Drogba up top and look to play off of him but I just feel that he wouldn't have the same impact on THIS game as Remy.
The Frenchman's movement is fantastic and he also has pace to burn. This could cause their back line a major problem if he can make the right runs into the channels and in between their defenders.
Think about it, if Everton play against Remy and his pace, they would not want to get caught in behind so as a result it's more than likely that they would drop deeper which in turn, would give our attacking three more space to play.
With Drogba up top, you would get the opposite effect on the game. Their defensive line would push higher, squeezing the play as a result and would make the game compact.
On the bench I would have Cech, Luis, Zouma, Fabregas, Cuadrado, Drogba and Loftus-Cheek.
My Starting XI: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (C), Azpilicueta, Matic, Ramires, Willian, Oscar, Hazard and Remy.