Chelsea have enjoyed a mixed start to their 2017-18 season. The Blues began the campaign with a shock defeat at home to Burnley before turning things around at Wembley against Tottenham Hotspur the following week. Alvaro Morata’s arrival and Eden Hazard’s return from his broken ankle gave the Blues a good momentum going into the season but further injuries to Morata and Kante broke the backbone of the team and the Blues’ form slumped.
Antonio Conte has had to tweak his formation from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2 to add the extra man in the midfield to give the shaky Chelsea defence some stability. However, it has mainly been the return of Kante and the return to form of Alvaro Morata that has seen the Blues rediscover their old form of last season.
They go into the midweek match against Qarabag, knowing that the Champions League debutants are yet to register a win in the competition. However, the Azerbaijan side managed to reduce Diego Simeone’s men to two consecutive draws in their last two European encounters. Chelsea themselves will be looking to cash in on their good league form and register three points to seal qualification to the next round.
Here is how the Blues will look to line up for the comparatively easy Champions League match:
Formation: 3-4-3
Defence
Thibaut Courtois is expected to play in goal for the Blues and the Belgian shot-stopper will be hoping to make it a hat-trick of clean sheets by keeping the goal safe.
The three-man defence is likely to consist of a fresh face with David Luiz, who is expected to return to the line-up for the first time since his horrible showing against AS Roma. Another player expected in the back three will be Antonio Rudiger, who, like Luiz, has also not started any match since the match against AS Roma. The third centre-back is likely to be Gary Cahill, with Cesar Azpilicueta getting a well-deserved rest, as the weekend clash against Liverpool will be at the back of Conte’s mind.
The two wing backs are expected to be Davide Zappacosta and Marcos Alonso, who will probably not be given the full ninety minutes if Chelsea can establish a lead in the first half.
Midfield
Conte is likely to return to a two-man midfield for the match with N’Golo Kante expected to partner his old Leicester teammate Danny Drinkwater in the middle of the park.
Attack
Alvaro Morata will be shouldering the responsibility of leading the line with Pedro and Willian likely to be his two wingmen.
