- May 7, 2022
- McKyleCFC
Third placed Chelsea host eighth placed Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge this Saturday for Matchday 35. The reverse fixture back on December saw a frustrating 0-0 draw play out at the Molineux Stadium. This time, Chelsea, coming off a loss at Goodison park in midweek, have won two and drawn two in their last five games. Wolves are on an even worse run with only one win and four losses in their last five games. Wolves need three points to draw level with West Ham in seventh place while the Blues want to consolidate third spot after dropping points to allow Arsenal within one result of third place. Both teams are desperate for points so it would be a good contest!
Goalkeeper: Mendy still first choice
Edouard Mendy wasn’t bad versus Everton, but hasn’t been great lately either. Kepa Arrizabalaga has been decent lately when given the opportunity to play. But while there’s a lot of talk about starting Arrizabalaga in goal of late, Tuchel seems to be persisting with Mendy in the hope he works out the issues in concentration, distribution and decision making without having to drop to the bench in buildup to the FA Cup Final.
Also, Arrizabalaga’s perceived valuation has never been higher at any point in the past two years, he is finally in good standing and Chelsea may try to see out the season in hope to carry a good perceived valuation for Arrizabalaga into the summer transfer window.
Defenders: Tuchel will be demanding a clean sheet at home
On current form, Antonio Rudiger surely must start if available. Fitness permitting, it has to be Thiago Silva and Cezar Azpilicueta completing the back three for the home game. This being the tail end of the season, there are only so many points left to be earned. Should Tuchel deem Azpilicueta or Silva need a rest Trevoh Chalobah should get a start in this game, Chelsea cannot afford to field less than their strongest starting lineups anymore.
Yes, while there are few back lines with more combined experience, than Rudiger, Silva and Azpilicueta – the latter two are aging & tiring warriors, who seem to have lost a yard or two of their speed and require a back three formation to cover each other. Chalobah can certainly add some energy if preferred but might lack the anticipation and positioning of the other two. Chelsea fans would be really surprised to see Andreas Christensen get a start this time. No, we’re not going to get into the can of worms about individual errors across the entire backline lately. Good vibes only.
Midfielders: Time to restore Jorginho to starting lineup?
Fitness and form makes this part of the lineup intriguing as usual. The last time Chelsea played Wolves, Tuchel had to start Chalobah in the pivot alongside N’Golo Kante and had replaced him with Saul Niguez. This time around, Tuchel ruled out Jorginho and Kante’s availability for Saturday in his pre-game presser, so we’re down to some combination of Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Saul and Chalobah to start and to come from the bench in later stages to inject fresh legs as needed.
The width in midfield will be provided as usual by wingbacks Reece James and Marcos Alonso. The injuries to Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell don’t really leave Tuchel any other good options short of experimenting with Christian Pulisic or Loftus-Cheek – something that hasn’t really filled anyone with confidence when tried in the past. Chelsea must play the two specialist wingbacks if they are available to take the game to Wolves. Alonso has been in good scoring form lately, so Chelsea fans will be keen to see his impact should James get some crosses in for him with the Spaniard lurking in delicious positions in the area. What does it say about our state of affairs when I’m day dreaming about Alonso scoring ahead of playing Wolves? It’s a rhetorical question, of course.
Forwards: Does Lukaku finally start?
It seems like Chelsea fans have been asking this question a lot lately. Given the less-than-stellar team goal conversion of late, perhaps it makes sense to bury the hatchet and just start Romelu Lukaku up top this time. However, this would require a supporting cast to facilitate any pressing. So, while it is tempting to suggest Hakim Ziyech, it’s more realistic to expect Mason Mount and Kai Havertz to start alongside the Belgian. Ziyech can be more influential off the bench along with Pulisic and/or Werner. This will leave a midfield substitution in hand for the manager yet.
The hope is that Tuchel makes substitutions early enough to actually have time to have any impact on the game. It was obvious that the substitutes came on perhaps 10 or 15 mins too late to turn the result around versus Everton. Chelsea fell behind in the Everton game and had an entire 44 minutes to make changes that came perhaps too late in the end.
Prediction: 3-4-2-1 Mendy, Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger, James, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Alonso, Mount, Lukaku, Havertz
Then again what do we know about the inner workings of Tuchel’s matchday mind. Have your say on Twitter and let us know what you think about our predicted lineup. Share yours!