Chelsea fans’ preferred lineup against Burnley: James, Tomori, Mount to start

Chelsea return to Premier League action against Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Despite recording a convincing win in the reverse fixture back in October, Sean Dyche’s men always have it in them to cause an upset and the Blues will need to be particularly wary of their physicality. As such, a full strength line up is needed, especially after a week’s rest.

THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE

With the 3-4-3 (5%) firmly relegated to irrelevance, the WAGNH community has narrowly voted in favor of the 4-2-3-1 (47%) over the slightly different (45%).

In goal, Kepa Arrizabalaga returns ahead of Willy Caballero (2%), after a rare breather against Nottingham Forest.

In front of him, both Kurt Zouma (47%) and Andreas Christensen (12%) miss out, though the former only just barely against Fikayo Tomori, who pairs with Antonio Rüdiger at centre-back. Reece James and Cesar Azpilicueta complete the back four, with Emerson (21%) remaining on the bench.

Jorginho, N’Golo Kanté, and Mateo Kovačić all received enough votes to start, so with the formation calling for a double pivot, the latter moves up to be flanked by Mason Mount and Willian. Callum Hudson-Odoi (66%) came very close to unseating Mount after a strong performance last weekend.

Up front, the lone striker is once again Tammy Abraham, with the most votes received of any non-goalkeeper. Given Olivier Giroud’s (1%) impending exit and Michy Batshuayi’s (2%) dire display at the weekend, this will most likely not change soon.

4-2-3-1 (47%)
Arrizabalaga (97%) | Azpilicueta (81%), Tomori (54%), Rüdiger (94%), James (90%) | Jorginho (77%), Kanté (84%), | Willian (82%), Kovačić (74%), Mount (70%) | Abraham (98%)

MY PREFERRED LINEUP

I pretty much made the same choices as the community here, with the exception of N’Golo Kanté, whom I left out in favor of Hudson-Odoi. As such, Kovačić drops back and Mount takes up the more central role behind Abraham. Given the circumstances, I believe this is currently our strongest possible lineup — yes, without N’Golo.

4-2-3-1
Arrizabalaga | Azpilicueta, Tomori, Rüdiger, James | Jorginho, Kovačić | Hudson-Odoi, Mount, Willian | Abraham

COME ON, YOU BLUES!!!