Chelsea fans’ preferred lineup against Valencia: Mount to return, James to start, Azpilicueta to left back

It was a close call, but the 4-2-3-1 formation eventually retained its favored status among the WAGNH community, finishing a few percentage points above 4-3-3 (44%) that was used to great effect for the first 25 minutes against Manchester City.

Kepa continued his firm foothold on the goalkeeper position, and there wasn’t much doubt about the preferred back four either, with Fikayo Tomori and Kurt Zouma practically set in stone ahead of Andreas Christensen (29%). Emerson’s (25%) poor display at the weekend meant that César Azpilicueta and Reece James were preferred at full back on the left and right sides, respectively. This is probably our best setup at the moment.

For the midfield, it was a supremely close call as Mason Mount beat out Mateo Kovačić (68%) by just a dozen or so votes. No recount! By contrast, Jorginho and N’Golo Kanté slot in behind without much competition to speak of.

Tammy Abraham was obviously favoured over both Michy Batshuayi (9%) and Olivier Giroud (5%), while Christian Pulisic and Willian won the wings with an overwhelming majority as well. The injured Callum Hudson-Odoi (26%) still picked up a few votes (probably while his status was in doubt), but the same can’t be said for the non-injured Pedro (4%).

4-2-3-1 (51%)
Arrizabalaga (96%) | Azpilicueta (83%), Tomori (86%), Zouma (85%), James (83%) | Jorginho (85%), Kanté (96%) | Pulisic (80%), Mount (69%), Willian (74%) | Abraham (87%)