Premier League table toppers, Chelsea play against Newcastle United in this weekend’s first fixture. Chelsea have had a solid start to the season so far but with Liverpool and Manchester City hot on their heels, they can’t afford to relax. On Tuesday, they beat Southampton on penalties in the Carabao cup to qualify for the quarter-finals. The performance against Southampton was not great but it also can be attributed to the current injury list and the several changes Tuchel made for the game.
Thomas Tuchel has generally preferred a back three formation during his time at Chelsea and there is no reason to doubt that it would change anytime soon. On the current injuries at Chelsea, Tuchel confirmed that both Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner are still out. Also, Mateo Kovacic and Pulisic will also be out for the Newcastle game, although the latter has returned to training and should in contention for selection soon. On the positive front, Azpilicueta, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Kante are all available for selection again.
Chelsea’s predicted 3-4-1-2 formation against Newcastle
Compared to the midweek game against Southampton, we predict to see a total of 8 changes. Mendy is expected to be back as the goalkeeper as he has been Chelsea’s number 1 this season. Kai Havertz will continue his role as the striker in the absence of Lukaku and Werner. Mount & Hudson-Odoi were excellent in the 7-0 thrashing against Norwich, so they should be back against Newcastle along with Kante and Jorginho in the center of midfield.
2 Responses
So far whoever plays at centre forward has been hit, and miss. If I were in charge of team selection
I would put Rubens there, for me, he has all the necessary qualities to do a great job.
Until Romelu returns, it should be Havertz or I would even go for Mount. Not Ruben for sure.