Chelsea would play hosts to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Saturday as they look to continue their winning start to the season. The Pensioners have won all three of their league matches so far, but they will clash heads against an in-form Bournemouth side, who have scored two goals in each of their past three league encounters.
It would be a good test for Sarri’s side, but anything other than a victory could disappoint the Chelsea supporters as they are slowly starting to believe that their team can mount a serious title challenge this season.
4-3-3 Chelsea Predicted Lineup To Face Bournemouth
Defence
The former Athletic Bilbao goalie, Kepa Arrizabalaga will start for the West London giants while Willy Caballero waits for his opportunity on the bench. Barring any injuries, the centre-half pairing of David Luiz and Antonio Rüdiger should continue at the back following their impressive display against Newcastle United last weekend. Marcos Alonso would once again float as a left wing-back while César Azpilicueta puts in a shift while resuming his right-back duties on the other side.
Emerson Palmieri and Andreas Christensen still need to be patient for their first league start of this new campaign. However, the Pensioners are in a rich vein of form, so it won’t be easy for them to break into the current backline.
Sarri’s team have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last two league encounters, so they need to improve a lot defensively if they want to stop the Cherries from scoring on Saturday.
Midfield
The trio of N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic is expected to line up at the centre of the pitch and would be responsible for winning the midfield battles at Stamford Bridge this weekend. All three of them looked good against the Magpies in the previous gameweek so it shouldn’t be a surprise if one of them ends up making a significant contribution on Saturday afternoon.
Cesc Fabregas is still out of action with an injury, but the services of Ross Barkley would be available on the bench.
Attack
Alvaro Morata might lead the line up top, but the pressure is mounting on him to deliver goals on a consistent basis. Pedro has been enjoying a good run of form and will get the nod ahead of Willian to start as part of the Chelsea attack.
Eden Hazard was at the heart of every good opportunity for the Blues last weekend and would start in Sarri’s team with the hope of getting his name on the scoresheet.
