There is no doubt that most of Chelsea’s struggles this season has been down to the lack of consistency from their forwards, whether it was an under-performing Alvaro Morata, a frustrated Olivier Giroud or an out of position Eden Hazard leading the line for the Pensioners up top. Maurizio Sarri has really struggled to address his goal-scoring problems in the first half of this campaign.
Hence he was forced to dig deep in the January transfer market and went back to one of his former players as he managed to orchestra a loan move for Gonzalo Higuain from Juventus. The Argentine striker struggled to make an impact on his debut against Bournemouth, but he showed his real class by scoring a brace versus Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon.
Now that Sarri has finally got everything clicking going forward, let’s take a look at the strongest starting XI for the Italian head coach to consider when every member of his squad is fit and available for selection.
Defence
Kepa Arrizabalaga is currently Sarri’s undisputed number one goalkeeper so he will be expected to start in most of the remaining matches left in this campaign. Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso have proven their worth for Chelsea over the past few years as they can be influential at both ends of the pitch so we should expect the duo to continue as the full-backs.
The partnership of Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz initially started well, but it has deteriorated a lot in recent weeks as evidenced by their dismal performance in the 4-0 hammering at the hands of Bournemouth on Thursday night. Hence, Chelsea might be better off going for the experienced Gary Cahill lining up alongside Rudiger at the back.
Midfield
The Chelsea boss should opt to play both Jorginho and NGolo Kante as the holding midfielders so that he can free up space for Willian to play in a free-flowing, attacking role in midfield.
Attack
The terrific trio of Eden Hazard, Gonzalo Higuain and Pedro will be a mouth-watering prospect for the West London giants up top. All three of them are world-class and knows how to create chances and score goals which is exactly what the doctor ordered at Stamford Bridge for the remainder of this season.
