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The last game of the Champions League group stage sees Chelsea needing to win against Lille at Stamford Bridge in order to guarantee going through to the knockout stages. The Blues have been struggling recently however, and some of the team selections have been a hot topic as a result.
THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE
For the first time in ages, the WAGNH community chose a formation other than the 4-2-3-1 (43%) as the 4-3-3 narrowly edged it out. And while Kepa Arrizabalaga remained the clear number one choice at goalkeeper, his vote percentage has taken a significant hit.
Antonio Rüdiger (47%) returns, but neither he nor Andreas Christensen (28%) managed to displace the favoured Kurt Zouma and Fikayo Tomori duo. Unfortunately, Tomori has been confirmed to be out with a hip injury, so Rüdiger would deputize in that case. At full back, Reece James and Cesar Azpilicueta continued to be favored over Emerson (55%) and Marcos Alonso (11%).
Our strongest possible trio at this moment in time was picked in midfield as N’Golo Kanté, Jorginho, and the recently brilliant Mateo Kovačić sent Mason Mount (43%) to the bench, where he keeps Ross Barkley (5%) company.
The front three unsurprisingly saw Tammy Abraham reprise his role at centre-forward with Willian and Christian Pulisic playing either side of him. Callum Hudson-Odoi (46%) was the only other name worth mentioning who received a decent amount of the votes as the other attacking options all count less than 5%.
4-3-3 (48%)
Arrizabalaga (86%) | Azpilicueta (67%), Tomori (56%), Zouma (67%), James (72%) | Kovačić (84%), Jorginho (85%), Kanté (88%) | Pulisic (84%), Abraham (94%), Willian (57%)
MY PREFERRED LINEUP
I can’t argue with the community’s choices, and I also agree with the change in formation. Apart from the unfortunate Tomori injury situation, the only thing I’d change is Hudson-Odoi. He’s been overlooked for some time now and this game would be a great opportunity for him. It’s not as if Willian was phenomenal against Everton.
4-3-3
Arrizabalaga | Azpilicueta, Rüdiger, Zouma, James | Kovačić, Jorginho, Kanté | Hudson-Odoi, Abraham, Pulisic
COME ON, YOU BLUES!!!