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Three wins from three for Conte and Chelsea so far, and on paper, this should be an easy fourth in a row. Things are rarely that easy in the Premier League of course, and judging by Tuesday's efforts against an even easier (at least on paper) opponent, using just two midfielders should not even be under consideration. So, 4-3-3 it is, just as in the first two games, which in turn makes a few choices obvious.
In defense, there aren't any real choices actually, with only five available players for four positions, and one of those just a 19-year-old. In midfield, N'Golo Kante is an automatic choice, as is Oscar, who was rested midweek (until the last ten minutes). Up front, it's Hazard, Costa, and whoever's the fittest at right wing. With Willian questionable, perhaps it will be Victor Moses rather than the random collection of flailing appendages commonly known as Pedro.
The only question then is what to do with Cesc Fabregas, who served notice of his attacking qualities on Tuesday and last weekend in a substitute role. Perhaps there's room to fit both him and Oscar into the starting lineup at the expense of Nemanja Matic?
Given Conte's m.o. thus far, I don't think that'll happen just yet. The new boss seems to prefer starting more conservatively and holding a more attacking Plan B in reserve. rather than vice versa as often seemed to be the case the last couple seasons. And while Cesc could certainly start instead of Oscar, or perhaps we could even see a variation with Oscar as the right winger, I think we will roll with essentially the same starting lineup as in the previous two league games (just with a different right winger due to injury). Don't mess with success!
4-1-4-1/4-3-3:
Courtois | Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic | Kante | Matic, Oscar | Hazard, Costa, Moses
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The WAGNH community seems split 50-50 on the issue of how many midfielders to use, but since their preferred choices make more sense in a 4-2-4, let's go with that one. To me, this seems far too attacking for a league match, even if said match is at home.
4-4-2/4-2-4:
Courtois | Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic | Kante, Fabregas | Hazard, Costa, Batshuayi, Willian