Chelsea pays a visit to St. Mary’s this Saturday before facing Real Madrid midweek. Having suffered a devastating defeat against Los Blancos, Thomas Tuchel’s side has crucial fixtures ahead in the next two weeks.
Chelsea Team News
Chelsea continues to endure the long term loss of Ben Chilwell to an ACL injury. Callum Hudson-Odoi is out suffering from Achilles and back problems ahead of this Saturday.
“No, not at the moment, no,” said Tuchel when asked whether Chelsea could go for a tie in Bernabeu.
“Because we have to find our level back. I don’t know where it is, since the international break. Our first half is a repetition of the second half against Brentford, in a quarter-final of the Champions League against Real Madrid.
“We were so far off our level in absolutely everything the game demands; you cannot expect a result for his kind of performance.”
“We need to find our competitive spirit and then we can talk. If we keep on playing like this we will lose in Southampton and then we don’t need to think about the Bernabéu: we will get hammered in the Bernabéu.”
The Blues boss might have to change things up in the defence to not concede goals at the very least. Tuchel should go back to the 4-3-3 formation as the current setup is simply not working.
Defence
The Senegalese keeper Eduard Mendy was guilty of gifting the visitors their third goal in the last match Vs Real Madrid but should start in this one.
The backline should see significant changes as Tuchel might save Thiago Silva for the second leg clash with Madrid next week (after all let’s not forget that he is 37 years old). Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger should form the spine of the Chelsea defence.
Cesar Azpilicueta will look to create chances for the men upfront from the left while Trevor Chalobah partners up with him on the right wing-back position.
Midfield
Jorginho holds the central midfield position while N’golo Kante sits this one out. Mateo Kovacic looks set to start after being praised by Tuchel in the last match. Marcos Alonso will most likely be playing in the right midfield position.
Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus Cheek will find themselves on the bench. Thomas Tuchel doesn’t want to take chances suffering a third defeat consecutively.
Attack
Romelo Lukaku might get a rare chance to start this Saturday if Kai Havertz is saved for the Bernabeu trip next week. Hakim Ziyech will make his way to starting eleven but has offered very little recently. Christian Pulisic looks set to start but has been quiet in the last few matches as well. Timo Werner will most likely find himself on the bench.
