It's time!
Tomorrow, we're going to know whether Chelsea fans have a good reason to tune in on Tuesdays or Wednesdays for the rest of the season.
As the line-up pretty much picks itself (as it has so often recently), it's best to be brief. There are no surprises, and every player stated below appears to be the most logical choice against our Spanish opponents Barcelona, with the exception of the ongoing debate about who should be the one to lead the attacking line.
Unfortunately, this issue doesn't look as if it's going to be resolved anytime soon, at least not until one of our two centre-forwards actually starts scoring again. The money's on Olivier Giroud to be the first to break the deadlock, and thus the Frenchman was picked over an Álvaro Morata who continues to play poorly.
While it would be desirous for the team to emulate our heroic group from 2012 and kick Barcelona out of the competition, we don't want a certain striker to go overboard and emulate Terry's red card, too. However, the discussion revolving around the Spaniard's ill discipline of late is a topic for another day. For now, all focus should lie on the perfect fit for tomorrow and, as stated, Giroud is the one who currently fits that description.
So, the predicted line-up:
3-4-3:
Courtois | Rüdiger, Christensen, Azpilicueta | Alonso, Kante, Fabregas, Moses | Hazard, Giroud, Willian
The WAGNH community’s preferred line-up is the exact same as the one chosen, with Giroud quite clearly being favoured over Morata (34%) and Pedro (16%). Generally, all other players were clear cut choices, something which differs from the last few polls which illustrated more even results.
3-4-3 (59%): Courtois (95%) | Rüdiger (84%), Christensen (92%), Azpilicueta (98%) | Alonso (90%), Kante (99%), Fabregas (76%), Moses (68%) | Hazard (98%), Giroud (57%), Willian (94%)
Let’s do it!