Chelsea will travel to the Sinobo Stadium to clash heads with Slavia Prague on Thursday night in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarterfinal tie. The Pensioners managed to beat West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on Monday night courtesy of two world-class goals from Eden Hazard. However, Maurizio Sarri might be enticed to rest a few key players with a crucial Premier League encounter versus Liverpool waiting for them at the weekend.
Sarri will opt for a 4-3-3 formation and might name both Davide Zappacosta and Andreas Christensen in his starting XI in midweek.
4-3-3 Chelsea Predicted Lineup To Face Slavia Prague
Defence
Kepa Arrizabalaga will lineup in between the sticks for the West London outfit after he secured a comfortable clean sheet against the Hammers on Monday night. The defensive pair of Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger will protect the Spanish keeper as they aim to put in another dominant display at the heart of Chelsea’s backline. Cesar Azpilicueta could be rested in midweek so Davide Zappacosta might lineup at right-back. Emerson Palmieri is expected to start on the left side of Sarri’s defence as Marcos Alonso is a major doubt for this encounter.
Sarri’s defenders need to avoid getting complacent and concentrate on getting the job done away at the Sinobo Stadium.
Midfield
The midfield three of Ross Barkley, Matteo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek might lineup together as they look to create a few opportunities for the front players. Loftus-Cheek managed to get his name on the scoresheet against Brighton and Hove Albion earlier this month so he would be quietly confident of putting in a similar kind of goal-scoring display on Thursday night.
Both Jorginho and NGolo Kante are expected to be rested with a trip to Liverpool looming on the horizon. However, Sarri is expected to name both of them on his bench.
Attack
Pedro and Willian will look to stretch the pitch on the flanks while Olivier Giroud spearheads the home side’s attack up top. The French centre-forward has performed better than Gonzalo Higuain in recent matches so Sarri might choose to hand him another start versus Jindřich Trpišovský’s men.
Both Higuain and Eden Hazard will likely be a part of Chelsea’s bench and might come on during the game if required.
