Chelsea will have one of the title-deciding fixtures next Sunday as they visit Manchester United. With Tottenham pressing them at the top of the table, the Blues cannot afford any more slip-ups as the Premier League boils down to the last six games.
Chelsea would be aiming for a first league double over United since the 2009-10 season and with Mourinho at the other helm, it is never going to be easy.
Defence
Thibaut Courtois will take his position under the bar. The 24-year-old Belgian international has had one of the best seasons this year conceding just 25 goals in 31 outings. He has hardly missed a game for the club since the beginning playing an important role in Chelsea’s brilliant campaign.
Chelsea’s back line has been their biggest success formula this season and Antonio Conte has been careful not to experiment with it though the Blues had some stumbling blocks on the way. We expect it to remain the same this time too. Chelsea are well aware of the shrewd tactician, Jose Mourinho, and to what lengths he would go to prove a point.
The back three guarding the defence will be Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Garry Cahill. While Cahill and Luiz had little to do to adjust to Conte’s defensive, it is Azpilicueta who has really surprised many. The right-back has done brilliantly standing on the right of the three-man defence.
The two wing-backs will be Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso. The duo has been tremendously consistent this season keeping the perfect balance between the offence and defence and Conte will have difficulty to get ideal back-ups for them next season when the fixtures increase.
Midfield
The central midfield will be taken by the regulars- Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante. Despite chipping in some delightful assists and netting crucial goals, Cesc Fabregas has failed to break into the first team this season. And one of the prime reasons for that is the duo’s work rate and defensive contributions.
Kante and Matic bring in muscle and speed in Chelsea’s midfield and against a team like Manchester United, which relies mainly on tremendous pace on the counter, they will have to play important roles. Kante got the all-important goal against United at Stamford Bridge last time they faced in FA Cup as Mourinho got his tactics wrong in not marking him. It is surely not happening again.
Attack
The attacking trio will continue to be Eden Hazard, Pedro and Diego Costa. The two attacking midfielders behind the centre-forward have been quite productive this season with 21 goals and 13 assists between them.
Costa will once again relish his chances from open play as has always been the case with Manchester United.
