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Chelsea head off to Antonio Conte’s homeland for a Tuesday night Champions League showdown in the Italian capital — though it should be noted that Conte hails from a place a fair distance (both geographically and, to a certain extent, culturally) away from Rome, in the very heel of the boot that is the Italian peninsula — as the Blues take on AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, site of the worst World Cup final of all time.
That said, a boring 0-0, or dare I dream, 1-0, would do us just fine, probably.
Chelsea have two more games before the next (and last) international break of the calendar year, which should bring a welcome period of rest as well as, hopefully, finally, a clean bill of health and without any more players picking up injuries. Lest we forget, and how could we ever, N’Golo Kanté has been out of action since the October break thanks to the hamstring injury he picked up while playing for France. If all goes well, Kanté should be available for Tuesday’s game, having returned to training last week. Conte has been slow-playing the midfielder’s return, as he tends to do with most injuries, but now sounds like a good time to get him back into action.
Beyond the minor doubt over Kanté, all players other than Victor Moses should be available, opening up the usual slate of options, including the usual 3-4-3 or the more defensive 3-5-2 setup.