• April 27, 2022
• Olaoluwa Nwobodo

Chelsea travels to Old Trafford to take on Ralf Rangnick’s men who are in poor form at the moment. Chelsea has a knack for gifting wins to teams that are struggling so Thomas Tuchel has his work cut out for him. Chelsea has played far too many games in a relatively short space of time, playing approximately one game every three days for the past month. Tuchel’s usual starters are getting tired, so who does Tuchel give the go-ahead for this game?

Goalkeeper: Mendy starts again

Mendy was very good against West Ham United and would start again. Kepa Arrizabalaga seemed to have been relegated to cup games but even that doesn’t seem true at the moment. Barring any profound event, Mendy would start this game and all subsequent games this season.

Defenders: Does Rudiger return?

Tuchel declared that Rudiger won’t be fit for the West Ham game, he said nothing about this game though. The assumption is that The German International would be fit for this game. No explanation is needed for why Rudiger starts this one if fit.

Thiago Silva would start again after his superb performance against West Ham. Silva dominated the West Ham game, making 15% of Chelsea’s total passes. His intelligence meant he was always one step ahead of play, therefore snuffing out West Ham attacks before they could even develop.

It’s important that Chelsea is aware of Silva’s limitations, especially because the Blues are playing a high line. Silva is not fast and Manchester United has a group of players designed to exploit high lines. Bruno Fernandes’s passing and Marcus Rashford’s movement would be instruments the red Manchester club tries to use to hurt Chelsea. Should Silva get into a foot race at Old Trafford, he’s more likely to lose than not. Chelsea should make sure this (the foot race) happens as few times as possible.

Andreas Christensen is likely to complete the centerback set. His passing would come in handy against the Red Devils but he too is not fast and Chelsea is in trouble if the Denmark defender is targeted as well.

Midfielders: Another big game? Another Jorginho-Kante pivot

It’s no surprise that Tuchel turns to Jorginho and N’Golo Kante in big games as they both lead the team in tackles and interceptions. Chelsea needs to do a lot of winning the ball back in these games and these two are the best at it in the squad. Kante played very well against West Ham. Jorginho did too but he missed a crucial penalty, though he was bailed out by Christian Pulisic’s late goal.

It may be time to have a conversation on whether Jorginho remains as the designated penalty taker. This conversation is not prompted by the number of penalties the Italian has missed, but by the fact that his penalty technique depends on factors out of his control to succeed.

Saving his penalty is easy, several goalkeepers have shown that if you wait for Jorginho to strike the ball before moving, you have a very good chance of saving it. This, however, is Tuchel’s call and it’s an admittedly difficult one.

Reece James and Marcos Alonso would start as wingbacks. Interestingly, James and Alonso have created six big chances each this season, though the former has two more assists. Chelsea fans may not fully appreciate Alonso until he’s gone.

Forwards: Does Ziyech finally start?

Chelsea’s attack has not been prolific this season but this has to do with more than personnel. The irregularity of minutes distribution for the forwards means that some forwards get much more chances to impress than others.

This is important when evaluating the forwards because it’s difficult to judge players fairly when they hardly play. You’re then left with judging them in very specific circumstances. Players, but especially forwards, need some time to get into their rhythm.

This means that when forwards are out of the side and they’re finally given a chance to play, they shouldn’t be expected to instantly outperform those they are replacing to show they should be starting.

Tuchel’s job is difficult in that he can only select three forwards out of seven available. Mason Mount has gotten the most minutes so far for Chelsea amongst the forwards, and he leads Chelsea in several key metrics including goals, assists, and big chances.

It is difficult to judge whether his numbers are a consequence of his many minutes, or whether the minutes are a reward for the numbers. This is difficult especially because Mount has been quite underwhelming for large parts of this season. His numbers are still credit to him though.

Ziyech might get a start this time, as Mount needs to be rested. Timo Werner and Kai Havertz are going to be the starting forwards regardless of who starts in the number 10 role.

Prediction: Mendy, Christensen, Silva, Rudiger, James, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso, Ziyech, Werner, Havertz

But what do we know? Who do we think starts for Chelsea against Manchester United this time? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter.