How Chelsea could line up against Arsenal
Chelsea face Arsenal in the second leg of the Carabao Cup tonight. The first leg ended in a stalemate at Stamford Bridge as neither team could get on the scoresheet. The London archrivals have already faced off thrice this season with all of the being draws. We take a look at how Chelsea can line up in the deciding cup tie.
Injury news
Alvaro Morata and Cesc Fabregas are both expected to miss the game as per Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.
On the positive side, Chelsea has been given a huge boost as the trio of players - Danny Drinkwater, Thibaut Courtois, and Gary Cahill have returned to training.
Formation
Antonio Conte this year has preferred to play a 3-5-2 against big teams. However, with Cesc Fabregas injured as well as both Ross Barkley and Danny Drinkwater having only recently recovered from injury and probably not ready to play a full 90 minutes recovered Conte may be forced to a play a 3-4-3 formation as he did against Brighton. The other option could be to play youngster Ethan Ampadu in a midfield three.
Conte's comments in his pre-match press conference, however, do hint that Chelsea will try to pack the midfield and play on the counter-attack while sacrificing ball possession.
Probable starting XI
Goalkeeper
While Willy Caballero has been excellent in his absence, the 6'6" Belgian Thibaut Courtois is expected to start having recovered from an ankle injury
Defence
With Brazilian Kenedy having moved to Newcastle on loan and Chelsea yet to close the deal with Roma for Emerson Palmieri, Marcos Alonso is the only senior team left-back available for selection. With six goals to his name thus far the Spaniard is the highest goal scoring defender in the Premier League this season.
Chelsea captain Gary Cahill has recovered in time for the game. However if he is not fully fit to last the 90 minutes, German centre-back Antonio Rudiger could start instead.
Andreas Christensen has been favoured over Brazilian David Luiz in recent months, especially in the bigger fixtures. The Danish international aged just 21 has been a revelation this year after having spent two years on loan in Germany. The young centre-back is the perfect ball playing defender, with an astonishing average pass accuracy of 94%. But what is more impressive is the calmness with which he plays even when under pressure.
Cesar Azpilicueta has been the most used player in the 18 months that Conte has been in-charge of the club. It would not be a stretch to say he is Chelsea's best defender and one of the first names on team sheet tonight.
On the basis of form, Victor Moses could start over Italian Davide Zappacosta. However, the Chelsea manager has been known to rotate the two liberally.
Midfield
Frenchman N'Golo Kante was the driving force in Chelsea's title win last year. Making over four tackles and interceptions per game he will undoubtedly be crucial to stopping Arsenal's creative midfielders.
Despite a less than perfect start to his career, Tiemoue Bakayoko is expected to start in the absence of Cesc Fabregas with both Drinkwater and new signing Ross Barkley in doubt to play a full 90 minutes. On a good day, the French International signed from Monaco can add steel to the Chelsea midfield. But there have been some poor performances from Bakayoko this season leaving Chelsea fans to wonder version of him will turn up at the Emirates tonight.
In case Chelsea plays a 3-5-2 as they usually have against the bigger sides this season, it is uncertain who would start along with Kante and Bakayoko tonight. The likeliest of them is former Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater assuming he has fully recovered from his ankle injury.
Ross Barkley could finally make a debut tonight but it is more likely that he will be coming off of the bench given that he is making his way back from a long-term injury and has not played a senior game in months.
Chelsea youngster Ethan Ampadu has started games for Chelsea in the Carabao Cup this year but given the magnitude of the game, Conte is likely to prefer experience instead of youth.
Attack
Chelsea star Eden Hazard seems to be back in form after scoring a brace against Brighton in the weekend and is certain to start tonight's game. After Morata, he is now the second highest scorer this season so far for the club.
Having received a red card in the FA cup tie versus Norwich, Pedro is now eligible to start tonight and may be preferred to Willian on grounds of being fresh. While Morata is injured, Chelsea do have an out-and-out centre-forward in Michy Batshuayi but during his stay at Chelsea, the Belgian has not found the trust of the manager to start in the big games thus far.
Expected line-up
Chelsea (3-5-2): Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill; Moses, Bakayoko, Kante, Drinkwater, Alonso; Pedro, Hazard.