Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to West Ham United on Saturday combined with Manchester City’s 2-1 win over their rivals Manchester United mean that the Blues are now 14 points adrift of the league leaders. Antonio Conte effectively ruled his team out of the race and will now look to consolidate on a top-four place.
West Ham United were widely considered the outsiders when they squared up against a Blues side who were unbeaten in the league since their shock defeat to Crystal Palace back in the middle of October.
The Blues suffered their fourth Premier League defeat of the season in just under 16 matches. Conte will know the significance of every win now with the race for top four already heating up. Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and surprise package Burnley are all within shooting distance of Chelsea and slipping up against weaker sides like Huddersfield Town is simply not an option for the Italian.
Here is how he will look to set his team up for a match the Blues will be expected to win comfortably.
Formation: 3-5-2
Defence
Thibaut Courtois will be expected in goal despite his contract extension talks getting more and more complicated by the week and the Belgian still unsure about his long-term future. The defensive three is expected to be without David Luiz who is still out with a knee injury.
Cesar Azpilicueta will be expected to have the armband and lead the Blues on a night where they will be desperate for a win. Antonio Rudiger will be expected to return to the left side of the defensive three after sitting out for the defeat against West Ham United with Andreas Christensen at the base of the defence again.
Marcos Alonso will prepare for what will be his umpteenth match this season as a left wing back with Davide Zappacosta expected on the right side. However, Alonso will be relatively fresher than he has been since August after getting some much-needed rest during the last match when he was taken off after halftime.
Midfield
Danny Drinkwater, along with N’Golo Kante, can be expected at the heart of the midfield with Cesc Fabregas playing up ahead of them. The expensive summer signing, Tiemoue Bakayoko, who had another forgettable match against West Ham United, might be demoted to the bench.
Attack
The dangerous duo of Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata up top and will be tasked with the responsibility of scoring the goals. They failed to do the same in their last outing against West Ham United and will be hungry for some next time around.
