Chelsea have enjoyed an oscillating 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’s 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 but 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.
In the league, the title defence for Antonio Conte’s men has not gone according to the plan and the Blues are already nine points off the pace. Chelsea have struggled to cope up with the task of challenging on both domestic and European fronts. Defeats to Manchester City and Crystal Palace have reduced Chelsea to the third spot in the table.
On the European front as well, they were struggling and the humiliating 3-0 defeat to Roma underlined the deep-rooted problems at the club.
With every team aware now of the 3 man back system, the season is going to be way more challenging for Chelsea’s Italian boss. However, it appears now that things are being set in order with the Blues having an 8-0 aggregate score in their last three outings against Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Qarabag.
They go into the high tempo clash this weekend against Liverpool after having to travel back from Azerbaijan in the early hours of Thursday morning. This is how Antonio Conte will look to set up his team for the high-profile clash.
Formation: 3-5-2
Defence
Thibaut Courtois is expected to turn up in goal for Chelsea. The 3-man defence is likely to consist of Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Gary Cahill.
Davide Zappacosta is expected at right wing-back with Marcos Alonso returning as the left wing back.
Midfield
With Chelsea now having just all their senior midfielders fit, Danny Drinkwater will be on the bench as he is unlikely to start so soon after recovery. Conte will look to his trusted soldier in Cesc Fabregas to partner the ever consistent N’Golo Kante.
Tiemoue Bakayoko is expected to play just ahead of the two midfielders
Attack
Eden Hazard is likely to operate as a second striker with Alvaro Morata playing up-front.
