Antonio Conte’s men are in the middle of a jam-packed fixture crisis with the Blues preparing for their seventh match in just over 20 days. Chelsea’s visit to the Emirates will see them continue with their insanely hectic January schedule and Conte will have to use all his tricks up his sleeve to help his team push through this one. The Italian’s team selection dilemma will have hit a new height with Cesc Fabregas, Danny Drinkwater, Thibaut Courtois and Gary Cahill unsure to feature after suffering injuries over the busy fixture schedule.
However, the Blues had only themselves to blame as they added a pointless extra 120 minutes to their playing time when they failed to get the job done while visiting Norwich in the first week of January. The resultant replay saw Chelsea lose Alvaro Morata and Pedro to red card suspensions and the Spanish duo was unavailable for Chelsea’s weekend match against Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Blues had a comfortable night at the Amex stadium as they emerged 4-0 winners on the night. A splendid display of attacking football from Eden Hazard and Willian coupled with Brighton’s miserable luck in front of goal meant that the Blues will be coming into the second leg of the Carabao Cup fixture high on confidence despite missing several first-team stars.
The Blues will be further boosted by the return of Morata and Pedro from their suspensions and Conte will want his average record against Wenger to change by securing his first win at the Emirates as Chelsea manager.
Chelsea is, however, unlikely to have an easy time with Arsenal themselves showing glimpses of their past prime in their 4-1 demolition of Crystal Palace. The Gunners were free-flowing and classy on the ball leaving their fans hopeful of life after Alexis Sanchez.
Here is how Conte is likely to feature his team.
Formation: 3-4-2-1
Defence
Thibaut Courtois uncertainty to feature would mean Willy Caballero would start his third straight match in goal. The defensive trio is likely to be Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger with Gary Cahill uncertain to start.
Davide Zappacosta is likely to start at right wing-back with Marcos Alonso to feature in the left wing back.
Midfield
Tiemoue Bakayoko is likely to partner N’Golo Kante in the middle of the match.
Attack
Pedro and Eden Hazard are likely to be playing in support with Alvaro Morata heading the line for the Blues.
